/ 



\ 



t 



SEEMONS 



ON THE MOST 



IMPORTANT SUBJECTS 



BOOK OF GOD. 



REV. WILLIAM BARNS, 

OF THE PHILADELPHIA ANNUAL CONFERENCE. 



VJNCIT OMNIA VERITAS. 



' PHILADELPHIA: 

PUBLISHED BY J. GK MI'LLEE, 

No. 204 NORTH THIRD STREET. 
1866. 



Eatered accordiDg to Act of Congress, in the year 1866, by 

RACHEL BARNS, 

la the Clerk's Office of the United States District Court, in and for the Eastern 
District of Pennsylvania. 



S. A. GEORGE, 

STEREOTYPER, ELECTROTTPER, AND PRINTER, 
124 If. SEVENTH ST., PHILADELPHIA. 



PREFACE. 





The independent explanatory attitude as- 
sumed by the author of these Sermons, needs 
no personal apology ; for having trusted in the 
influence of the Holy Spirit and the soundness 
of his theological principles, he is therefore 
assured that his arguments will stand the test 
of scriptural, logical, experimental, and practical 
truth. And as a spirit of sectarian bigotry, 
and an undue reliance on creeds and confes- 
sions of faith have often originated unnecessary 
controversies, perpetuated many ruinous errors, 
and given mutilated explanations of the Divine 
attributes, the writer of these Discourses thought 
it best to rely on Scripture and reason; for, 
like their great Author, they are "the same 
yesterday, to-day, and forever." They follow 
sophistry through all its serpentine windings, 
and destroy superstition at her blood-stained 

(3) 



4 PEEFACE. 

altars. To these unchangeable standards he 
wishes all his doctrines brought, and by these 
all his principles tried. And intrenching our- 
selves behind these impregnable bulwarks of 
our holy Christianity, the truths herein con- 
tained will recommend themselves to our un- 
derstanding and conscience in the sight of God, 
and " a light clear as the sunbeams of Eden," 
will point us to glory, honor, and immortality 
in the heaven of heavens, where the Lord 
Jehovah is all in all, and in the outbeaming 
splendors of his eternal Godhead shines on all 
creation as the great Creator of the grand and 
glorious systems of beings, suns, and worlds, 
rolling round in the endless cycles of eternity. 



ADVERTISEMENT. 

The Sermons in this Volume are presented 
to the public just as they were found at the 
death of the author. 

Not being designed, when written, for im- 
mediate publication, they underwent no revi- 
sion. The design of the author was to write 
fourteen Sermons, three of which, viz. : on the 
Bible, the Enthronement of Messiah, and the 
Glory of the Church, were left in an unfinished 
state. 

Philadelphia, August, 1866. 

(5) 



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CONTENTS. 



SERMON PAGE 

I. — The Existence, Greatness, and Government of 

God 7 

II. — The Existence of the Devil, and the Origin of 

Evil 52 

III. — Eedemption and Salvation 78 

IV. — The Existence, Origin, and Attributes of the Soul, 

in contrast with gaining the whole World, and 

losing its Salvation 120 

V. — On the Foreknowledge of God, and the calling, jus- 
tification, and glorification of believers in Christ 

Jesus 148 

VI. — The Doctrine of Entire Sanctification, relative to 
its Proofs, Author, Instrumentality, Nature, and 

Extent 168 

VII.— The Moral Law, established by faith in Christ.. . . 196 
VIII. — A Eefutation of the Decrees of Calvinism, and a 
free and full salvation for all mankind estab- 
lished 217 

IX.— The Great Day of Judgment 254 

X. — On the Existence, Punishment, and Duration of 

Hell 287 

XI. — The Heaven of heavens, the vast Metropolis of 
all God's dominions, and the glorious home 
of all the Saints, in eternal union with Angels 
and all the immortal hosts of that bright 

Kealm 322 

(6) 



SERMON I. 

ON THE 

EXISTENCE, GREATNESS, 

AND 

GOVERNMENT OF GOD. 



" For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods." 
Psalm xcv. 3. 

The royal Psalmist was the youngest son of Jesse, 
of an obscure family of the tribe of Judah and village 
of Bethlehem, and kept his father's sheep in the wil- 
derness. At an early age he became a devout wor- 
shipper of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 
Renouncing the sinful pleasures of time for the glories 
of eternity, he strung his harp, swept his lyre, and 
soared on contemplation's pinions to trace Jehovah in 
his ways and works. In that delightful employment 
he became a peculiar object of the Divine regard, and 
was shielded amidst all dangers. Exulting in such 
protection, his proceedings were marked by that true 
fortitude which nothing but the noblest principles 
could dictate, and the energy of God inspire. This 

(?) 



8 ON THE EXISTENCE, GREATNESS, AND 

soon became evident in fulfilling the duties of his 
pastoral calling ; for when a lipn and a bear rose 
against the fold and took a lamb from the flock, he 
rescued the trembling innocent and left the savage 
invaders dead upon the field. 

He also distinguished himself as a mighty warrior 
in conquering Gath's triumphant champion, whose 
threats spread terror and dismay throughout the 
whole army of Saul. Trusting in the mighty God of 
Jacob, he exultingly exclaimed : " The Lord that de- 
livered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the 
paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of 
this Philistine ;" and in the mighty exercise of this 
faith he slew the proud idolater, whose fame-forsaken 
spirit floated on a crimson torrent to where no monu- 
mental marbles record the deeds of the fallen, and 
where all fanciful greatness vanishes in the realities 
of eternity. And when he was returned from the 
slaughter of the Philistine, " the women came out of 
all cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King 
Saul with tabrets, with joy, and with instruments of 
music ; and the women answered one another as they 
played, and said, Saul hath slain his thousands, and 
David his ten thousands." Jehovah, who taught "his 
hands to war and his fingers to fight," exalted him to 
the throne of Israel and Judah, and gave him victory 
over all his enemies. And while Fame emblazoned 
his name upon her banner, and Eeligion enshrined it 
in her temple, he exclaimed, in the heaven-inspired 
language of the text : " For the . Lord is a great God, 



GOVERNMENT OF GOD. 



9 



and a great King above all gods and in discoursing 
on which, I design, in the first place, to exhibit the 
transcendent greatness of God ; and secondly, that he 
is " a great King above all gods." 

I. The Transcendent Greatness of the 
Psalmist's God. - 

1. He is great in the eternity of his existence. As 
something must necessarily be eternal, we may at 
once settle down in a firm belief of the existence of 
the God of the Bible. To renounce him and look 
for another prior to his existence, would evince great 
ignorance. For that infidelity that would suppose an 
antecedent cause, would, on the same principle, have 
to suppose another prior cause to cause that cause, 
and therefore have to retire from cause to cause, with- 
out light to direct, or reason to guide upon the ocean 
of endless uncertainty. 

The fact of an eternal existence must be obvious, 
when we reflect that if there ever had been a point in 
eternal duration when there was no existence, then 
the first being must have arisen from non-existence, 
which would be a contradiction too glaring for even 
scepticism to advocate with any show of intelligent? 
plausibility. For as an effect can never imply more 
than the cause that produced it, so entity could not 
be produced by non-entity, and consequently the first 
being must be eternal. This argument, shining in 
the light of Divine revelation, supersedes all others, 
and leaves us in possession of a demonstration of 



10 ON THE EXISTENCE, GREATNESS, AND 

God's existence that needs no metaphysical illustra- 
tion. Indeed, the inspired penmen in the grossest 
ages of idolatry never availed themselves of an 
abstract or metaphysical mode of argumentation to 
prove Jehovah's eternal existence; for the bare publi- 
cation of the fact, in the spirit and power of inspira- 
tion, carried more demonstration than any human 
arguments could produce. And when the Holy Spirit 
first furnished the understanding with the idea of a 
Supreme God, then the works of creation could be 
proclaimed as corroborative evidence. Therefore, Paul, 
at Mars' Hill, preached him to the Athenians, as the 
God who made the world and all things therein ; and 
assured the Eomans that " the invisible things of him 
from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being 
understood by the things that are made, even his 
eternal power and Godhead." Now, while this doctrine 
of inspiration affords the true ground on which to 
obtain a correct knowledge of God's unori^inated ex- 
istence, it exposes the ' utter foolishness of Deists in 
denying inspiration, and in affirming that the works 
of creation could afford the first idea of God without 
either the inspiration of the Spirit or the revelation 
of the Bible. 

An argument aprmm^ or arguing from something 
antecedent to something consequent, can have no effect 
in originating the belief of a Supreme existence ; for as 
there can be no space to argue in, nor data to rest an 
argument upon before an eternal God, consequently 
the a 'priori cannot be reasonable proof in this.contro- 



GOVERNMENT OF GOD. 



11 



versy ; for that would suppose that a mind finite in 
its existence and limited in its powers, could extend 
its reasoning beyond the infinite God, and bring from 
priority an argument to prove his existence, which 
which would be a fallacy too monstrous to need 
further refutation. Neither can the argument a pos- 
teriori, commencing with God, and descending to his 
works, afford reasonable proof. For beginning with 
him as the ground of our argument would suppose 
his existence already proven, while at the same time 
we were referring to his works for the first proof that 
he did exist, which would therefore establish the fact 
that we had the idea of God in our minds before we 
referred to creation, and then to assert that creation 
gave us that first idea of God, would be a contradic- 
tion of real Deism. It is an axiom in all true philoso- 
phy that no being or substance, animate or inanimate, 
spiritual or material, can impart more than it pos- 
sesses, and can produce no evidence beyond the range 
of its own existence, without having recourse to some- 
thing else for light and information. 

Let us commence with any finite object whatever, 
and there is the proof of its own being ; but beyond 
itself it can ' make no revelation, nor give any intelli- 
gence without aid from another source. Let another 
finite object lend its testimony, and if the light be 
greater the former may be rendered more conspicuous, 
and the knowledge of its existence more satisfactory ; 
but without foreign and further information, we would 
still be ignorant of all other objects and prior causes. 



12 OX THE EXISTENCE. GREATNESS. AZSTD 



Following up. on this ratio, all finite substances, we 
at last arrive at the extent of all creation, and there 
we must philosophically feel that the whole circumfer- 
ence of unite objects can give no evidence of any thing 
beyond themselves ; and as none but God could exist 
before creation, he alone could give to the beings 
created a knowledge of his own eternal existence, and 
the true explanation of his otherwise inconceivable 
attributes. TTe thus find that these philosophical 
arguments ruin the whole system of Deists, in denial 
of Divine inspiration, and their reliance on the works 
of creation for the original knowledge of God's exist- 
ence/ But being driven from this outpost of their 
citadel of infidelity, they may endeavor to take refuge 
in another one, and affirm that education perpetuates 
a belief in the Divine existence : and that devoid of 
inspiration the fact has come down the range of ages 
to the present time, and shall accordingly continue by 
tradition through all time to come. But the entire 
fallacy of this scheme will also obviously appear, 
when the infidel is unable to find, abstract from in- 
spiration, an instructor for the first man. that gave 
him by human tradition, or education, a knowledge 
of God ; so. when the Deist is brought to first princi- 
ples, the plausibility of his fine-spun theory passes 
away like a shadow,, and leaves us as sensibly alive 
to the untenability of this as his other God-forsaken 
position. And though we hail education as a blessed 
auxiliary to the cause of Gocl and the triumph of 
truth, yet we. nevertheless, maintain that the first 



GOVERNMENT OF GOD. 13 

teacher received by inspiration his original knowledge 
of a Supreme Divinity. Taking, then, the inspiration 
of his Spirit, the testimony of his oracles, and the 
works of creation, we have sufficient proof of an un- 
originated Deity. 

Having thus demonstrated the greatness of the 
eternity of Grod, and given to inspiration its true 
superiority of testimony, we shall now expose the 
glaring inconsistency of Atheists in substituting 
chance for this God, whose glory is so conspicuous, 
and whose existence is. so immutably established. 
What, then, is that chance for which Atheists con- 
tend, and at whose shrine they offer all their adoration ? 
Chance must be something or nothing. If nothing, 
it is not worth contending for, and cannot be a proper 
subject of controversy — for nothing in the premises 
will be the same in the conclusion ; and for the honor 
of the intellect of Atheists, we must suppose it to be 
something. If something, we want to know what it 
is, and what it can perform. If it be something, it 
must have either an inactive or an active existence. 
If the former, it cannot be the author of active prin- 
ciples, nor of any action or motion in the universe, 
except we admit the contradiction that it can be in- 
active and active at the same time. But if the latter, 
its energy must be derived from another source, or be 
independent in itself. If derived from another, it 
cannot be the author of all things, since the energy 
of its existence came from a cause prior to itself. But 
if the energy of its existence be underived, it must be 



14 ON THE EXISTENCE, G-KEATNESS, AND 

self-existent and eternal ; and therefore, must be pos- 
sessed of all the attributes of infinite Godhead. And 
according to this, the Atheist must now go as far back 
for his chance as Christians do for their God ; and we 
can bring all the charges against his system that he 
endeavors, on his principles, to bring against the ex- 
istence of our eternal Jehovah. And consequently, 
the Atheist's chance must be only another name for 
the God of the Bible, or something of which he is 
totally ignorant ; and he must fall under the condemna- 
tion of all true philosophy, for believing that of whose 
existence he has no reasonable evidence, and of whose 
attributes he can give -no satisfactory explanation, 
and which is accordingly reduced to a mere name — 
the name of Eternal Chance; and for any strength 
which he derives from that to support his argument 
against the unoriginated existence of Jehovah, he 
might as well believe in and contend for eternal non- 
entity. 

But this " great God, and great King above all 
gods," who is eternal in his existence, must also be 
immeasurable in his duration ; for his eternity can no 
more be measured by a successive duration, than his 
immensity can be limited by a measurement of space ; 
and as no measurement of space can either circum- 
scribe or extend his immensity, so no flow of dura- 
tion can limit or perpetuate his eternity. Limits in 
space, and flow of duration, must always refer to finite 
beings, and can have no scriptural or philosophical 
application to him who is infinite. For if duration 



GOVEKNMENT OF GOD. 15 

have no existence beyond the present moment, and 
Jehovah moves on with the flow of time, then, like a 
finite being, he would be limited to the present mo- 
ment ; but if duration exist beyond the present, and 
he proceeds successively forward in it, then, on that 
principle, there is still a duration unoccupied by him, 
which would involve the contradiction that the infi- 
nite God is bounded by duration like a finite being. 
Therefore, the advocates of God's " successive dura- 
tion" are reduced to the deplorable necessity in both 
of the above propositions of bringing down the great 
Jehovah to the circumference of a finite existence. 
But, in open opposition to such contradictions, we 
triumphantly assert that all these absurdities are an- 
nihilated by the prophet Isaiah, who proclaims him 
as the " high and lofty one that inhabiteth eternity," 
aud by the Psalmist ; who sayeth, "from everlasting 
to everlasting, thou art God." Now if he proceed in 
a "successive duration," as some afhrm, then the "to 
everlasting" would have no more application to him 
than to finite beings, seeing that they, in the flow of 
duration, will endlessly exist ; and thus, on the suc- 
cessive" principle, the force of the Psalmist's assertion 
would be entirely lost, and the abstract propriety and 
beauty of its application to God be totally destroyed. 
Jehovah must, therefore, according to the declaration 
of the prophet, inhabit eternity in a manner that no 
flow of duration can measure, nor finite mind fully 
comprehend. 

Time, or rather eternity, is measured to us by the 



16 ON THE EXISTENCE, GREATNESS, AND 

revolution of the heavenly bodies, and thereby is our 
quantum of duration ascertained ; and though it is 
impossible for us to exist beyond the present moment, 
at the same time it is quite otherwise with God, who 
at once fills the eternity that revolving orbs are 
measuring to human beings. For how could he 
bound his infinite spirit by any present flux of dura- 
tion, when, in the uncircumscribed nature of his own 
immensity, he must at the same instant inhabit eter- 
nity ? "We thus conclude, that instead of ft & flowing 
duration being a perfection of the Divine existence," 
it is only a metaphysical misapprehension of the 
human understanding, and a theory which a great 
European writer ought to have never adopted or in- 
serted in his Institutes, which, in many respects, con- 
tain such a vast amount of important matter. An- 
other absurdity implied in the application of "succes- 
sive duration" to God is, that it makes him grow 
older in proportion to the flow of duration occupied ; 
for younger and older are always determined by the 
quantum of duration measured, according to arith- 
metical progression, from a given point. "We now, 
on that principle of succession, might look forward to 
when Jehovah shall be much older than he now is, 
and by the same proportion may look back to when 
he was much younger; and as younger and older 
imply a first moment of commencement, so, accord- 
ing to that mode of argumentation, we could imagine 
when God had no existence at all. But if, to avoid 
this conclusion, fairly arisiDg from the premises, it is 



/ 



GOVERNMENT OF GOD. 17 

affirmed that younger and older will not apply to 
God, as to finite beings, then it must be established 
that " a successive duration" will not apply to him. 

Paul declares that God "only hath immortality." 
Finite beings are always going forward to further im- 
mortality ; but God possesses it in the most absolute 
sense. Other beings depend for their immortality on 
the will of their Maker, and flow of their duration ; but he 
is "the same yesterday, to-day, and forever." And as 
he is infinite in essence, he must necessarily be inde- 
structible in the nature of his existence ; for the power 
that destroys must always be greater than what is 
destroyed, and, therefore, a greater than omnipotent 
power would be required to effect his annihilation, 
which would be more than himself or all other beings 
could exert, for no power could be greater than omni- 
potence. Neither can he cease to exist by dissolution 
or decay ; for, as a pure spiritual intelligence, eternally 
Id divisible in his nature, he consists not of parts by 
which a separation of any thing essential to his being 
could cause an extinction of his existence ; and as no 
being could exist prior to himself to produce him, or 
limit his perfections, so all his attributes must neces- 
sarily exist to the fullest extent of infinity, and be, 
therefore, God indestructible ''from everlasting to 
everlasting." On these principles our Foundation 
standeth sure, and our faith in his eternal existence 
remains unshaken ; and he who is the author of our 
happiness here, lives to perpetuate it eternally here- 
after. 

2 



18 ON THE EXISTENCE, GREATNESS, AND 

2. He is great in the Immateriality, Unity, and Im- 
mensity of Jus Existence. These are all necessarily 
implied in his eternity. For as there could be no pre- 
vious power to limit him, he must accordingly fill all 
space at the same time. His essence must be imma- 
terial ; for as all the component parts of matter prove, 
it is divisible, and cannot be eternal ; and if not eter- 
nal, it must be limited, and cannot fill all space; and 
if any part of space be devoid of its presence, that 
would destroy the whole argument for its eternity and 
omnipresence. And that all space is not full of mat- 
ter, may be incontestably proven by its mutations, 
fluctuations, and transmissions ; for if all space were 
full of matter, no particle could be moved from one 
place to another ; for it is an immutable principle of 
natural philosophy, that experience and observation 
corroborate, that no two substances of the same kind 
can occupy the same space at the same time ; and thus, 
if space be full of matter, no other portion could be 
admitted ; and we plainly see that the divisibility and 
mobility of matter prove that it is finite, and cannot 
compose the essence of the omnipresent God ; and, 
therefore, reason and revelation testify that (rod is not 
material. If, then, he is immaterial in essence, it de- 
monstrably follows that he must be one in the insepar- 
able nature of that spiritual essence. For what is infi- 
nitely indivisible in existence, must be One in Spirit. 
Some, however, suppose that to keep up the plurality 
of the Godhead, we must necessarily admit that there are 
three spirits in the unoriginated essence. But this is 



GOVERNMENT OF GOD. 



19 



a great mistake, and one that leads Unitarians, Socin- 
ians, and infidels to believe that Trinitarians hold 
three Gods. But, in opposition to all undue admis- 
sions on the one hand, or incorrect statements on the 
other, it can be triumphantly maintained, that true 
Christianity never has admitted, and never will admit, 
more than One infinite and eternal Spirit in the Divine 
identity ; and can nevertheless afiirm, that this iden- 
tity, in the everlasting state of its own nature ; exhibits 
the plural and personal distinctions of Father, Son, and 
Holy Ghost, without separation of essence or divisi- 
bility of Spirit. The Bible, that often represents the 
Spirit as a third personality, enlightening the mind, 
changing the hearty and sanctifying the soul, at other 
times proclaims that Spirit as the entire God. In that 
sense, Christ himself said, " God is a Spirit." Here, 
then, by a proper understanding of this important sub- 
ject, we can exclude all but One Spirit, and leave this 
" lofty One " in possession of an eternal Unity, acting 
in creation, redemption, and salvation, in the capacity 
of an indescribable Trinity. 

The idea, then, of three spirits in the Godhead, is 
both unreasonable and unscriptural ; for if each spirit 
were infinite, that would be three infinite spirits in 
one infinite essence, and, consequently, three Gods in 
one God. But if each of the three spirits were finite, 
that would suppose the infinite essence comprised in 
three finite spirits, and would make Jehovah finite 
and infinite at the same time, which would be a palpa- 
ble contradiction. Let each of us then cry out .with 



20 ON THE EXISTENCE; GREATNESS, AND 

the Psalmist : " Whither shall I go from thy Spirit ? 
or whither shall I flee from thy presence ? If I ascend 
up into heaven thou art there : if I make my bed in hell 
behold thou art there. If I take the wings of the morn- 
ing, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even 
there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall 
hold me." While we therefore prove that the unity 
and immateriality of the Supreme existence exclude 
all ideas of the divisibility of the unoriginated essence, 
so must the immensity of his Spirit forbid the attach- 
ment of any form to his Godhead. The principles 
that constitute and regulate form, must always apply 
to finite objects, and can have no actual application to 
him who is infinite. Any thing to which form can 
be reasonably ascribed, must be seen by the eye, or be 
surrounded by the imagination. But Jehovah "is the 
blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and 
Lord of lords, who only hath immortality, dwelling in 
the light which no man hath seen, nor can see." 
Neither can we surround him by the eye of the mind ; 
for no finite being can extend his' imagination beyond 
the existence of the infinite God, and compress him 
within the range of his own circumscribed intellect. 
Form always implies a space occupied by and a space 
beyond the object formed ; and to attach form to the 
great God, would be to bound him by space, and to 
suppose a farther space still unoccupied by him. In- 
stead, then, of fancifully forming him in our minds, or 
viewing him as a Being at a great distance, let us 
solemnly reflect, that he who inhabits all space in the 



r . ' r 

GOVERNMENT OF GOD. 21 

immensity of his existence, is present here, and may 
be apprehended in his infinite attributes, and suffi- 
ciently adored, without having reference to any form, 
or the likeness of any thing in heaven above or earth 
below. 

3. He is great in Omnipotence. The indescribable 
extent of the exercise of this attribute has never been 
disputed ; for all who have believed in the Supreme 
existence, have easily subscribed to the unlimited 
power of Omnipotence. But however correct all have 
been respecting its existence, many have had errone- 
ous ideas of its exercise. Some have supposed that as 
a spirit is said to be always active, Jehovah must have 
exercised creative power from all eternity, and that if 
he did not, there was an interval, prior to creation, in 
which the Godhead was inactive. Now • it is fatal to 
this assertion, that if the activity of God depended on the 
act of creating, there never could have been any crea- 
tion. For creation is an effect of a prior cause, and 
the cause must have had voluntary energy and activ- 
ity before the effect was produced. And as no 
cause can depend upon a succeeding effect, so no crea- 
tion can give pristine action to the Deity, but is a 
mere effect of that energy, which existed independent 
of the production of the things created. Again, .if 
creation be an involuntary effect of its first cause, then 
God created by necessity, and we bind him by immu- 
table fate in his exertions, and thereby destroy our 
moral obligation to him for the gift of our existence ; 
for who would feel themselves under obligations to any 



22 ON THE EXISTENCE, GREATNESS, AND 

being for doing what he could not avoid. But if, to 
evade this absurdity, we say that he created of choice, 
then we must admit that such choice referred to the 
time of creation, as well as to the objects created, and 
consequently he could not be bound both by necessity 
and choice to create from all eternity, for that would 
be an inconsistency and impossibility inapplicable to 
Jehovah. If, then, creation sprang from choice, and 
choice referred to the time, then the infinite volition 
must have been exercised prior to the things created ; 
and as no volition could be exercised before eternity, 
creation could not be of, eternal duration ; and, there- 
fore, eternal creation must be a mere phantom of a 
bewildered imagination. 

Creation could not be from eternity, except we ad- 
vocate the absurdity, that what once had no existence 
was eternal, and that the thing produced is as infinite 
in duration as he who produced it ; for were we to 
allow a priority to the cause of creation, the whole ar- 
gument for its eternity would absolutely fall. Creation 
is not, then, the result of omnipotent power necessarily 
exercised to keep the Godhead from inaction, but is a 
manifestation of infinite goodness in forming beings 
for happiness. And an attribute that would not have 
illimitable range in the area of Jehovah's existence, 
is one that is not essential to his essence. His eternity 
is unbounded, and his infinity is immeasurable. The 
omniscience of his wisdom,- and the omnipotence of his 
power, comprehend and energize the entire Godhead ; 
his love, as the great centre of action for all the infi- 



GOVERNMENT OF GOD. 23 

nite attributes, extends its influence throughout the 
immensity of his perfections, and his holiness, as the 
unfailing fountain of all righteousness, truth, and jus- 
tice, harmonizes all the proceedings that spring from 
his own independent and eternal freedom. Therefore, 
the area of the Godhead is the only range where the 
energy of Omnipotence can be fully exercised ; for the 
whole creation is finite, and no finite substances can 
manifest the full extent of omnipotent power, or afford 
an infinite range for Jehovah's unoriginated and un- 
circumscribed perfections; so our theory must be 
adopted as sufficient for (rod's unlimited action, before 
creation existed. And while angels, and thrones, and 
dominions, and principalities, and powers, blaze forth 
in created glory to proclaim his omnipotence, yon 
star-spangled canopy shining in the mantle of night, 
and all the suns and systems of immensity, lead us to 
exclaim with the Psalmist : " The heavens declare the 
glory of God, and the firmament sheweth his handi- 
work. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto 
night sheweth knowledge. Their line is gone out 
through all the earth, and their words to the end of 
the world." Job saith : " He stretcheth out the north 
over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon 
nothing. He bindeth up the waters in his thick 
clouds, and the cloud is not rent under them. He 
holdeth back the face of his throne, and spreadeth his 
cloud upon it. The pillars of heaven tremble, and are 
astonished at his reproof. He divideth the sea with 
his power, and by his understanding he smiteth 



24 ON THE EXISTENCE, GREATNESS; AND 

through the proud. By his Spirit he hath garnished 
the heavens ; his hand hath formed the crooked ser- 
pent. Lo, these are parts of his ways ; but how little 
a portion is heard of him ? but the thunder of his 
power who can understand?" Creation, in all its 
works of greatness and grandeur, falls infinitely short 
of a full exhibition of omnipotent power. For far be- 
yond its vast circumference, Jehovah could produce 
myriads of worlds and millions of worshippers, and 
beyond their farthest range, he could still extend his 
mighty influence and exert his omniflc energy in cre- 
ating systems in numbers without number, through 
every successive moment of ages of ages; and yet, 
there would be abundant room for the onward exer- 
cise of creative power. For no finite substances, how- 
ever multiplied and extended, could ever fill bound- 
less space, or circumscribe the efforts of God Omnipo- 
tent. Here we might contemplatively roam after the 
ways and works of the Almighty Architect, until we 
were bewildered and lost in the magnitudes, mazes, 
s and mysteries of creation. 

His power is also manifested in upholding all 
things created. He commands all the suns, systems, 
and planetary orbs, and they move in obedience to 
his sovereign pleasure. He maketh the sea to ebb, 
and the tide to flow, and 'all inanimate creation to run 
her course. He who hunts the prey for the lion, and 
feeds the young ravens when they cry, numbers the 
hairs of our heads, and links us in the vast chain of 
superintendence that bids an archangel sing in the 



I 



GOVERNMENT OF GO I). 25 

star-paved palace above, and " Lucifer, son of the 
morning," howl in damnation below. His power up- 
holds saints in their pilgrimage on earth, and points 
them to crowns of righteousness in Heaven. He 
makes devils tremble before them, and hell keep her 
distance beneath them. The " heathen" may "rage, 
and the people imagine a vain thing ;" but " he that 
sitteth in the heavens shall laugh ; the Lord shall have 
them in derision. Then shall he speak unto them in 
his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure." 
Who, then, in opposition to God's upholding agency, 
have sufficient hardihood to war against the righteous? 
Let them raise their standards, brandish their weapons, 
and exert their energies. Then, oh, then, shall the 
loud-roaring thunders terrify them, and the red, rapid 
lightning blast them, until the palm of victory is 
yielded, and the God of omnipotent majesty is glo- 
rified. 

Moses, standing on the last verge of life, where 
death's dark Jordan rolled deep and wide below, pro- 
claimed to the assembled thousands of Israel — 
" There is none like unto the God of Jeshurun, who 
ricleth upon the heaven in thy help, and in his excel- 
lency on the sky. The qternal God is thy refuge, and 
underneath are the everlasting arms : and he shall 
thrust out the enemy from before thee ; and shall say, 
Destroy them. Israel then shall dwell in safety alone ; 
the fountain of Jacob shall be upon a land of corn and 
wine ; also his heavens shall drop down dew. Happy 
art thou, Israel : who is like unto thee, people 



26 ON THE EXISTENCE, GREATNESS, AND 

saved by the Lord, the shield of thy help, and who is 
the sword of thy excellency ! and thine enemies shall 
be found liars unto thee ; and thou shalt tread upon 
their high places." Here Jehovah proclaims his pro- 
tecting power in the strongest language given to mor- 
tals ; and here language itself fails in representing 
the transcendent majesty and upholding power of 
God, that blaze all abroad, for the present and eternal 
triumphs of his saints, and the confusion and final 
overthrow of his enemies. 

4. God is boundless in Love. The inspired writers 
testify that " God is Love." Our first parents proved 
his goodness in the Garden of Eden, where his be- 
nevolence lavished around them every charm. The 
feathered inhabitants of the elysian bowers and 
cyprian groves sang their joyful songs, and "whis- 
tled forth their wild notes" to the sylvan scenes ; the 
beasts gambolled in pleasure, and roamed in delight 
over greenest meadows and flowery lawns, where 
"purling streams danced over sands of gold," and 
murmuring rolled along the heaven-illuminated land- 
scape. There the "Tree of Life," in grand and con- 
spicuous pre-eminence, unfolded its verdant glories, 
and invited the human pair to partake of its immor- 
tality. And surrounded with every earthly blessing, 
and exulting in every delightful prospect, as our pro- 
genitor swayed his sceptre over all beneath, and 
looked along the vista of succeeding years and saw in 
bright prospective the opening glories of an endless 
life, a cloud blackened the moral horizon, where 



' GOVERNMENT OP GOD. 



27 



splendors of ineffable brightness beamed from the 
Sun of. eternal righteousness. For a serpent, a devil, 
stood by the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, 
and the pair, able to resist any temptation, yielded to 
the tempter, eat the forbidden fruit, and " nature soon 
gave signs of woe that all was lost." 

The redemption of this fallen world is another 
proof of Divine love — into which angels desire to 
look, and in which we are everlastingly interested. 
This redeeming love was manifested under circum- 
stances of great aggravation. To a rebellious world 
God's beloved Son was given. But this great scheme, 
so benign in its author, and wonderful in its accom- 
plishment, has been derided by some, and misappre- 
hended by others. Infidels ignorantly deny that God 
would make such an atonement, or lavish so much 
goodness on this world as Christianity affirms, seeing 
that it is but an atom in comparison with the suns 
and systems that astronomy has unfolded. But it is 
fatal to this denial, that the great God, glorious in 
majesty, and infinite in power and goodness, who 
formed the whole, cannot be unmindful of any part. 
For as the whole is the aggregate of parts, any prin- 
ciple or plan by which any part could be neglected, 
all could. The objection is not only ruinous to itself, 
but is highly dishonorable to God. For, if the Di- 
vine attributes were glorified in creating man for hap- 
piness, they could not be dishonored in accomplishing, 
by redemption, the end for which he was created ; 
and every argument brought from the littleness of 



28 



ON THE EXISTENCE, GREATNESS, AND 



man, to forbid the exercise of infinite goodness in his 
redemption, would also have forbidden its exercise in 
his creation. Eternal love, from its own intrinsic 
nature, must be exercised, as far as can be consistent 
with the other infinite perfections, for the happiness 
of all. And the idea that Grod would pass by one 
intelligent being^ and extend his loving-kindness to 
another placed in the same circumstances, or that he 
would be unmindful of our world because of the 
multitude and greatness of others, is an insult offered 
to infinite majesty ; and he who advances it, neither 
knows him of whom he speaks, nor what he affirms. 

But while some have denied redemption because 
of man's comparative littleness, others have run into 
an opposite extreme, and have endeavored to account 
for it on man's greatness. For as, after the fall, he 
could have no moral excellence to excite the forth- 
comings of Divine love, it has been asserted, and 
published in books, that in the greatness of the powers 
man possessed, and in the image of Grod in which he 
was created, is found the proper reason for his re- 
demption, and a solution of the difficulty, why Grod 
passed by angels and redeemed man, whom he still 
beholds as radically the noblest of his creatures. 
Now though this doctrine has been promulgated with 
a desire to glorify God in what was doubtless believed 
to be true, we nevertheless openly assert that it is phi- 
losophically false, and cannot stand the test of logical 
inspection. We maintain that the Bible, to whose 
testimony we must all bow, nowhere even intimates 



GOVERNMENT OF GOD. 



29 



that man was created the noblest of all God's works ; 
and if that, for the sake of argument, was admitted, 
we could from that show no sufficient reason why he 
should be redeemed and other intelligences left to 
perish. For that would suppose that magnitude in 
man was the ground of compassion in God, and that 
if he had been less than other beings, he would not 
have been an object of mercy ; and would thus limit 
infinite clemency to human greatness, and thereby 
make it impossible for God to reasonably extend 
mercy to any beings inferior to man. For if his com- 
passion could be consistently exercised to any other 
order of beings, the whole argument of human great- 
ness, as the proper reason of redemption, would accord- 
ingly fall. And as there is no evidence to prove that 
man is the noblest of all God's works, or that Jehovah 
will never exercise mercy to any of his innumerable 
worlds but ours, so must the argument of human 
greatness as the reason for redemption, rest on mere 
supposition, and find no foundation in Scripture and 
reason. 

Neither can the image of God, in which man was 
created, and in consequence of which some have ex- 
alted him above cherubim and seraphim, angels and 
archangels, afford any more reason for his redemption 
than for any fallen intelligence in existence ; for all 
rational spirits were created in God's image, as well as 
the soul of man. For that image could not refer to 
man's body ; for if it did, when he fell aud lost the im- 
age in which he was created, that would imply that he 



30 ON THE EXISTENCE, GREATNESS, AND 

lost his bodily form, and, therefore-, had no image or 
form, which would he a manifest contradiction. 
Neither could that image as the reason for redemp- 
tion consist in immortality ; for as we do not advocate 
or hold annihilation, we must admit that all other in- 
telligences shall be as immortal as man, and have the 
same claim to mercy if they should fall. We are, 
therefore, logically forced into the conclusion, that the 
image of God, in which man was created as a pure in- 
telligence, must have consisted in moral and spiritual 
perfection ; and the account given by Moses establishes 
this view ; for in giving the history of the six days' 
creation, as Adam and Eve were the only intelligent 
beings in the description, he announced them the 
image of their Maker, and said, in the language of in- 
spiration : " In the image of Grod created he him ; male 
and female created he them." Now, according to 
these undeniable facts, every intelligent being in God's 
dominions must have been created in the same image, 
and, consequently, no argument can be derived from 
that, to prove man's superiority to angels and arch- 
angels, cherubim and seraphim, or to afford, in con- 
junction with the greatness of his powers, the. only 
proper reason for his redemption. The whole must, 
therefore, be resolved into infinite love : " For God so 
loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, 
that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, 
but have everlasting life." And though a self-inter- 
ested love always looks for greatness, excellence, or 
something amiable in its object, yet the love of com- 



GOVERNMENT OF GOD. 



31 



passion can be exercised to a miserable being, when 
there is no difficulty in the way, without any selfish- 
ness, greatness, or excellence. And the great love of 
our adorable Father, put forth in compassionate kind- 
ness to our race, without reference to any other requi- 
sition, is the proper reason for redemption, and we 
therefore place the everlasting emphasis respecting re- 
demption and salvation, on " God so loved the world, 
that he gave his only begotten Son." If there were 
moral difficulties in the way of fallen angels, that for- 
bade the exercise of mercy in their case, we need not, 
in endeavoring to account for their damnation, take 
wrong views of our own salvation ; for when the great 
God, as the Father of the whole family, consigns an 
angel to hell, his goodness, if we were furnished with 
the whole history, could be borne out as triumphantly 
as when he confers heavenly glory on a saint. 

But salvation is another proof of God's boundless 
love. Salvation, resting on redeeming love, brings us 
to Golgotha's high altar, where the sternness of inex- 
orable justice was vindicated, and the eternal throne 
propitiated. The cross, from whence the blood flowed 
to wash away the guilt of the nations, affords the most 
powerful plea that God himself can urge for salvation. 
Jesus Ghrist, and him crucified, is the great argument 
with which to assail sinners. If they reject this, the 
thunders of the throne would fail to affect their hearts. 
In the atonement, the dignity of law is maintained, 
and infinite clemency fully evinced. For, while on 
the one hand it exalts the benevolence of the Monarch, 



32 ON THE EXISTENCE, GKEATNESS, AND 

on the other it spreads holiness and happiness through 
the empire ; and thus, in the gift of the only begotton 
Son, the most gracious purposes are unfolded, and glo- 
rious results carried forward. And small as was the 
earthly arena on which he acted, and sinfully degraded 
as were the subjects for whom he died, there were con- 
siderations of sufficient importance involved in the 
contest, to emblazon the atoning transaction, and to 
bear onward the 1?riumphs of victory and salvation 
through endless duration. Let infidels attend to this 
view, and instead of looking at the smallness of the 
world where the battle was fought, they will look at 
the principalities and powers that were dethroned, and 
the mighty conquests obtained ; and then, with the 
heavenly host, they may exclaim from the depth of 
their souls : " Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, to 
receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, 
and honor, and glory, and blessing." Let them also 
look at the church, that shall rise indestructible and 
eternal above the ravages of time and the conflagration 
of the world ; and let them follow her by an eye of faith 
until she climbs the eternal steeps, and sits down in blood- 
bought triumph on the throne of God, where jubilees 
of angelic welcome shall ring, and loud hosannas fill 
the celestial regions. And then, in honor of the great 
system of gospel salvation, they may cry out with the 
apostle : " This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all 
acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to 
save sinners;" and, in view of all the penal consequences 
of violated law, may ask, as sincere penitents : " How 



GOVERNMENT OF GOD. 



33 



shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation ; which 
at the first began to be-spoken by the Lord, and was 
confirmed unto us by them that heard him ; God also 
bearing them witness,, both with, signs and wonders, 
and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, 
according to his own will ?" If, then, the love of God 
is so gloriously evinced in creation, redemption, and 
salvation, we shall now show that it must also be 
evinced in damnation. 

God, as a wise and good Governor, must make an 
everlasting distinction between righteousness and un- 
righteousness ; and can never, on principles of just 
legislation, exalt the finally impenitent to a state of 
heavenly glory with the obedient heirs of the pur- 
chased inheritance. For such an exaltation would 
encourage wickedness, and endanger the rights of the 
innocent, and thus would the authority of law be dis- 
regarded, and a state of anarchy and rebellion be pro- 
moted. For when the excitement to sin would be 
sufficiently strong, and the opportunity for sinful en- 
joyments favorable, allegiance to the Sovereign could 
be easily relinquished, and the propensities and pas- 
sions be speedily indulged, since through infinite love 
their salvation would be as sure in heaven, as if they 
were righteous on earth. But when it is properly un- 
derstood, that it is not merely by an infliction of inex- 
orable justice that the sinner's doom is sealed, but 
also by eternal goodness that he is damned, then he 
trembles, and finds no refuge in that broad philan- 
throphy in which he fancied himself safe, and feels 
3 



34 OX THE EXISTENCE, GREATNESS, AND 

that be has no qualification for that heaven after 
which he so ignorantly sighed. For were he, with his 
heart unchanged, aud his soul spiritually dark, ad- 
mitted into the celestial abode of the sanctified, he 
would be miserable at the throne of God ; the singing 
and shouting of the heavenly hosts would have no 
harmony for him ; and the refulgent blaze of God's 
transcendent glory would beam such a confounding 
influence upon him, that of choice, he would retire to 
shades as dark as his own principles of moral action, 
and to associates more congenial to his own wishes. 
But all supposition of an admission of the ungodly 
into heaven is eternally superfluous ; for their pres- 
ence in that blest abode would mar the peace of those 
that all Jehovah's attributes are pledged to protect in 
their heavenly enjoyments and state of innocence; 
and, therefore, they must be precluded from the in- 
heritance of saints. But that same Divine love which 
cannot make them ; as sinners, happy in heaven, must, 
according to good government, follow them to hell ; 
not, however, to avert their doom, but to proportion 
their punishment. There they shall be as tolerably 
situated as justice can admit, according to its penal 
requirements. No extra punishment shall be heaped 
upon them, nor unnecessary blame attached to them. 
But as hell is not a place for the exercise of mercy, 
nor for an application of the blood of the covenant, the 
penal consequences of their wickedness must be per- 
petuated, and infinite love, in harmony with all the 
Divine attributes, be everlastingly exculpated in their 



GOVERNMENT OF GOD. 



35 



inevitable ruin. And, if Jehovah, in accordance with 
all the perfections of his Godhead, leaves them where 
no' gospel is preached, no offers of salvation made, no 
sanctifying influences of the Holy Ghost experienced, 
they must necessarily remain unholy ; for, as their 
misery will be the consequence of sin, the punishment 
that they endure can never react and destroy the 
cause of which it is an effect. And whether we view 
their sufferings as arising from the direful nature of 
sin, and the circumstances in which they are placed, 
or ascribe them to the inflictions of Divine justice in 
execution of the penalty of violated law, or to all in 
connection, the result will be the same in the eternity 
of their damnation ; for as justice can never obviate 
the penalty, and sufferings cannot destroy sin, nor 
sanctify the soul, so must their exclusion from heaven 
be perpetual. 

5. Jehovah is gloriously great in Holiness. This at- 
tribute of the great God is so conspicuously manifested, 
and so fully believed throughout all his dominions, 
that we need give it no elaborate explanation. For, 
amidst all the controversies in which sects and parties 
have been engaged, for centuries, the existence and 
amplitude of this attribute have never been a sub- 
ject of theological contention. Indeed, an infernal 
spirit said to Jesus Christ, who was the " brightness" of 
the Father's " glory," and "the express image of his 
person," "I know thee who thou art, the Holy One 
of God:" thereby bearing testimony to the unblem- 
ished majesty of the Lord Jehovah, as shining forth in 



36 ON THE EXISTENCE, GREATNESS, AND 



his immaculate purity through; the humanity of his 
Son. Moses, the inspired lawgiver of Israel, who 
heard the thunders of Sinai, and whose face shone 
with the ineffable splendors of unoriginated Divinity 
and unsullied holiness, exclaimed, " Who is like unto 
thee, Lord, among the gods ? who is like thee, glo- 
rious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders ?" 
All the works of his creation, holiness of his laws, 
dispensations of his providence, influences of his 
Spirit, and condemnation and overthrow of wicked 
men and devils, proclaim that he is holy. And 
"Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty," will be the 
sublimest song that immortal millions can endlessly 
sing in the heaven of heavens. 

6. He is incomprehensibly great in Omniscience. 
Omniscience has been variously understood, and dif- 
ferently explained. As an attribute of eternal God- 
head, it has been the subject of more controversy and 
ecclesiastical altercation than any other of the Divine 
perfections. For as men of different minds formed 
human creeds and wished to propagate favorite views, 
they endeavored to explain the articles of their faith, 
so as to make them appear in accordance with infinite 
wisdom ; while those of opposite opinions were as 
heartily engaged in striving to bring their doctrines 
up to the standard of omniscience, as a basis for their 
metaphysical or theological notions. And amidst 
these polemical exertions, often perpetuated by great 
zeal, and surrounded with explanatory glory, the 
simple and sincere had at last to repair to the Bible, 



GOVERNMENT OF GOD. 



37 



and from the Book of the unsearchable God, learn the 
lessons of wisdom and understanding, in their length 
and breadth, and depth and height, as far as their 
capacities would admit ; and be enabled with Paul to 
exclaim : " Oh, the depth of the riches both of the 
wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable 
are his judgments and his ways past finding out !" A 
proper understanding of the attribute of omniscience 
would lead us to believe that Jehovah could not grow 
in knowledge like finite beings, and cannot, therefore, 
be ignorant of any thing on the tide of time and roll 
of eternity ; but must know all things, past, present, 
and to come, at the same moment. This could be easily 
proven from the eternity of his existence, the infinite 
nature of his capacity, and the omnipresence of his 
Spirit, without the exercise of omniscience having any 
propelling power on the sinful actions of free agents. 
But as my limits in this sermon will not allow such 
an extensive explanation, I shall reserve my views, 
which will cover the whole ground of controversy 
on God's foreknowledge, for another discourse, where 
the proceedings of angels, men, and devils will be ex- 
plored, as voluntary subjects of God's moral adminis- 
tration, accountable for their own actions, notwith- 
standing the boundless omniscience of the King 
eternal, that precedes all events in the roll of endless 
ages. 



38 ON THE EXISTENCE, GREATNESS, AND 

II. He is a "Great King above all Gods." 

1. His right to the empire. Right of eternal 'priority. 
As there can be but one absolute and endless mon- 
archy, so there is but one supreme and independent 
King. And though other kings may reign and princes 
execute justice, yet all must be in subjection to him 
whose dominion is everlasting, and whose kingdom 
ruleth over all. He is "the King eternal, immortal, 
invisible, the only wise God," to whom " be honor and 
glory forever and ever." Who then, among all the 
principalities and powers in existence, can lay an 
older claim, or found a better right ? Their preten- 
sions would be founded in time ; his is the right of 
eternity* 

He has also the right of eternal sufficiency. What- 
ever empires may fall, or kings perish, he can suffer 
no loss. His "throne is forever and ever." It is 
founded in infinite wisdom, and upheld by everlasting 
strength. Amidst the revolutions of ages it stands the 
same. Its mighty Monarch is still ruling and over- 
ruling, turning and overturning, according to the 
counsels of his own will, and the safety and happiness 
of his obedient subjects. Where are those ancient 
empires whose far-spread fame flushed their monarchs 
with mortal greatness ? Where now the Assyrian, 
founded by Nimrod? The Persian, by Cyrus? The 
Grecian, by Alexander the Great ? And the Eoman, 
that reared her high head to the clouds, and defied 
the storm of a thousand battles ? Alas ! they are all 



GOVERNMENT OF GOD. 



39 



gone — the wheels of time have shaken them off as the 
" toiled lion shakes off the dew-drops of the morn- 
ing," before he retires to the jungles of the desert after 
his nocturnal pro wrings for blood and slaughter. 
Where, too, is great Nebuchadnezzar, who, in the 
pomp and pride of his heart, said, " Is not this great 
Babylon that I have built for the house of the king- 
dom by the might of my power, and for the honor of 
my majesty ? While the word was in the kings 
mouth there fell a voice from heaven, saying, O King 
Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken ! The kingdom 
is departed from thee — until thou know that the Most 
High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to 
whomsoever he will." 

Here the mightiest monarch s have been dethroned ; 
and here the weapons of their warfare perished. The 
crowns have fallen from their heads, and their sceptres 
lay broken at their^eet ! Their suns have gone down 
in darkness, and their bodies are shrouded in death ! 
But Jehovah liveth forever and ever ! # He is pushing 
forward those principles that shall astonish and con- 
found his enemies, and crown with eternal victory the 
heads of all his saints. 

He reigns by the right of universal inheritance. 
He has created all things, " visible and invisible, 
whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principali- 
ties, or powers : all things were created by him and 
for him, and he is before all things, and by him all 
things consist ;" and he has therefore a universal right 
to ride the beings and substances formed by the word 



40 ON THE EXISTENCE, GREATNESS, AND 

of his power. In bis administration no law can be 
defective, no faithful subject go unprotected, and no 
enemy be triumphant. The thunders of the throne 
shall prevent all invasion, and his omnipotence defy 
all usurpation, until his right to reign shall be indis- 
putably acknowledged, and the God of everlasting 
sovereignty be gloriously magnified. 

2. His extensive empire. First. He reigns in the 
Kingdom of Nature. * He reigns over inanimate 
nature by those fixed laws which regulate and revolve 
all matter ; and carries forward as undeviatingly his 
superintendence over an atom as over a magnifi- 
cent world. He reigns over animate irrational nature 
by instinct. By this the wild goose flies her course, 
and the crane and the swallow know their appointed 
time. The wisdom of his government is wonderfully 
displayed in the chain of aqueous being, from the 
minutest animals, thirty thousandtof which can exist 
in one drop of water, to the huge leviathan that 
ploughs the ocean and sports with the monsters of the 
deep ; and from the smallest animalcule that creeps in 
the vallejr, to the most prodigious beast that roars on 
the mountain ; or from the beautiful humming-bird 
that flutters in the flower-garden, to the stately ostrich 
that scours the plains with a velocity that outstrips 
the horse and his rider ; or to the towering eagle that 
mounts amid the thunders of the storm, and sports 
with the lightnings of the skies, where the lark 
spreads his pinions, and sings his morning song before 
the god of day sheds his flaming splendors on the 



GOVERNMENT OF GOD. 41 

azure vault. Yea! all the beasts of the forest, fowls 
of the air, and fishes of the sea, are guided and gov- 
erned by that Almighty Being, whose ample adminis- 
tration embraces all worlds, and regulates all that live, 
and move, and breathe, as his own great family. 

He reigns over man by reason, conscience, and 
revelation. And notwithstanding all the clamor that 
superstition and ignorance have raised against reason, 
it still stands as one of heaven's best gifts to man. 
It is a scourge to licentiousness, and a safeguard to 
righteousness. It unfolds the Book of the Everlasting 
God, and follows' him in his ways and works of sal- 
vation, and guides him through the regions of science. 
" Eeason can perform all the wonders of sculpture and 
painting — can almost make the marble speak, or the • 
brook murmur down the painted landscape." It rises 
on the wings of imagination, and soars aloft where 
the eye has never travelled, where other stars glitter 
in the vast concave, and forces its way through all the 
splendor of astronomical data that science and inspi- 
ration have exhibited, and, according to the un- 
changeable nature of cause and effect, brings its 
" knowledge from afar," and ascribes righteousness to 
its Maker. It argues its way down the stream of 
time into the remote regions of eternity, and merges 
its mighty energies beyond all created things in the 
unfathomable existence of God himself, and expatiates t 
on his boundless immensity. Conscience, too, enlight- 
ened by the Spirit, and regulated by the Bible, is a 
guide through this dark wilderness to everlasting day, 



i 42 ON THE EXISTENCE, GREATNESS, AND 

and, under the ruling power of the great God, pre- 
'monishes of wickedness, and refers to the judgment- 
day for a crown of righteousness. And sitting as 
umpire on all our actions, it pronounces us guilty or I 
innocent in all our proceedings, while its impartial 
decisions are calculated to contribute largely to our 
happiness or misery as accountable subjects of the 
King eternal. The Holy Scriptures are a great law 
of liberty to regulate our thoughts, desires, words, and 
actions, on the pathway to eternity. They are the 
wonderful testimonies of the living (rod — the lively 
oracles of old — which for sublimity of language, and 
importance and variety of contents, surpass all de- 
scription. Take therefore the Bible as your infallible 
guide in doctrines. Spurn with the utmost indigna- 
tion every religious article that is not derived from, 
or that cannot be established by this sacred standard 
of doctrine. No matter what conclave originated it, 
minister defended it, or blood has been spilt for it, if 
it stand not this test let it sink to darkness unspeaka- 
ble. Take it as your guide in experience and prac- 
tice. " For the word of (rod is quick and powerful, 
and sharper than any two-edged sword." Let no 
dreams or visions of the night, no transient impres- 
sions on the mind, no zeal in your devotion, partiality 
for your church, or orthodoxy in your creed, be sub- 
stituted for the scriptural and heartfelt witness of the 
Holy Ghost testifying clearly that you are born of 
God. . And while, through faith in the great author 
of salvation, you are acting up to all the principles, 



GOVEKNMENT OF GOD. 



43 



experience, and practice of heaven-inspired Chris- 
tianity, he who reigns over the whole realm of nature, 
from the highest angel in heaven to the lowest insect 
on earth, will reign over you ; and looking up with 
joy fill confidence to the great King, each of you may 
cry out with the royal Psalmist, " O, how I love thy 
law !" " It is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto 
my path" to a glorious immortality. 

Secondly. He reigns in the Kingdom of Providence. 

Here, we need make no distinction between a gen- 
eral and particular providence ; for general is but the 
aggregate of particulars, and each particular must be 
a part of that generality; and as Jehovah is the mon- 
arch of all, he must therefore extend his superintend- 
ence to every circumstance in time and eternity. His 
government implies no chance or change. All its 
principles are as immutable as his own existence. 
With him "is no variableness, neither shadow of 
turning." Explore the chronicles of ages, and then 
ask who, through all the range of his providence, ever 
hardened themselves against him and finally pros- 
pered ? or who ever trusted in him and was con- 
founded ? Read the history of patriarchs, prophets, 
and apostles ; the rise and fall of empires ; the success 
or destruction of fleets and armies ; and the exaltation 
and degradation of individuals. Look at the wretched 
Haman, the Israelitish enemy, and at the seventy-five 
feet gallows on which the provicleDce of the Jewish 
God hung him; and then ask, Does Jehovah reign in 
the kingdom of providence ? Yea, explore the whole 



4A ON THE EXISTENCE, GREATNESS, AND 

Jewish history from tlie days of Abraham, and dwell 
for a moment on Moses, David, Daniel, and the three 
Hebrews — and then loudly praise the lofty One of 
Israel. Look, too, at the era of Christ and his apos- 
tles, when the star of Bethlehem shone upon the 
world ; and when the Sun of righteousness beamed 
ineffable radiance on the gospel dispensation, that 
shall triumph over all opposition, until "the earth 
shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the 
waters cover the sea." Isow the Church "looketh 
forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the 
sun, and terrible as an army with banners." 

Look at our own history, our own star-spangled 
banner, our own rights and privileges, and then look 
to the time when blood flowed, and foreign powers 
fought for spoil on our surge-sounding shores. Look 
to the era of great Washington, through whose wis- 
dom in council, and prowess in war, our nation sprang 
into existence. Then God bade our eagle fly, our 
stars blaze, and our stripes float over sea and land. 
Now, our sails whiten every ocean, and our flag is 
respected by all countries ; while we invite to our 
shores the commerce of all kingdoms, and are at 
peace with all nations. Our sons now shine in our 
halls of science, and our daughters are the brightest 
wreath around the Temple of Liberty. And while we 
have the best government on earth, let us give the 
glory to the God of heaven. 

Thirdly. Jehovah reigns in the Kingdom of Dark- 
ness and Damnation. Though Satan is exalted above 



GOVERNMENT OF GOD. 



45 



the infernal hosts, and his black banner floats on the 
battlements of hell, and legions of devils fly for the 
accomplishment of his purposes, and to proselyte to 
his kingdom, yet Jehovah reigns over them, and has 
so circumscribed them that they could not enter a 
herd of swine without Divine permission. Therefore 
let no man's heart fail him in the mighty contest 
against principalities, and powers, and spiritual wick- 
edness in hellish places; for " when the enemy shall 
come in like a flood, the spirit of the lord shall lift 
up a standard against him;" and through faith in 
Jesus Christ, the believer can maintain a triumphant 
ascendency over him. All his efforts for your de- 
struction, Christian, when manfully resisted, will 
brighten your crown of salvation, and return upon 
his own head to deepen his damnation. An angel, 
commissioned from the throne of the great king, 
" having the key of the bottomless pit, and a great 
chain in his hand," shall lay "hold on the dragon, 
that old serpent, which is the devil, and Satan," and 
shall '* cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him 
up, and set a seal upon him ;" and in " the lake of 
fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false 
prophet are," he " shall be tormented day and night 
forever and ever." Then the Divine government 
over the kingdom of darkness shall be gloriously ex- 
emplified, and the whole church shall melodiously 
sing — "]STow is come salvation and strength, and the 
kingdom of our Grod, and the power of his Christ ; 
for the accuser of our brethren is cast clown — and the 



46 ON THE EXISTENCE, GREATNESS, AND 

kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of 
our Lord, and of his Christ ; and he shall reign for- 
ever and ever." 

Fourthly. He reigns in the Kingdom of Grace. He 
reigns in Zion. "How beautiful upon the mountains 
are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that 
publisheth peace ; that bringeth good tidings of good, 
that publisheth salvation ; that saith unto Zion, Thy 
God reigneth ! Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice ; 
with the voice together shall they sing : for they shall 
see eye to eye when the Lord shall bring again Zion. 
The Lord hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes 
of all the nations ; and all the ends of the earth shall 
see the salvation of our God." " The Lord shall reign 
forever, even thy God, Zion, unto all generations." 
Wrapt up in the inspiration of these glorious prophe- 
cies, we see, throughout all ages, the prosperity, protec- 
tion, and triumph of the Church. Jehovah saith unto 
her, "Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the 
glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For, behold, 
the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness 
the people ; but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and 
his glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles 
shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness 
of thy rising." He reigns for her protection. ISTo 
weapon formed against her shall prosper ; and every 
enemy that fights against her shall be confounded. 
The winds may blow, the rains descend, and the floods 
come, but, founded on a rock, she shall stand the 
storm. The Lord Jehovah being that Eock, the 



GOVERNMENT OF GOD. 



47 



"gates of hell shall not prevail" against her. But he 
reigns for her final and eternal conquest. Those in- 
fidels that prophesied her downfall, and proclaimed 
her ruin, are now confounded. Their throats, that 
were as open sepulchres, are dried up ; their tongues, 
which used deceit and uttered blasphemy, have cleaved 
to their mouths. The trumpet of the gospel, the rage 
and thunder of ecclesiastical battles, the shouting of 
the mighty men of war, have driven them from the 
field. The herculean force of the hydra-headed mon- 
ster of infidelity is destroyed, and the visionary pros- 
pects of Deists are vanished. Christianity rings the 
death-knell of Deism, and consigns it to hell with the 
devil and his angels. Eternal despair spreads its 
raven wings over it, and the demons of damnation 
shall howl around it. I must now turn my eyes from 
shades of woe, where devils dwell, to Jehovah's reign 
over Paganism and Mahomedanism. These also, that, 
like infidelity, have led so many into ignorance and 
wickedness, must fearfully fall. The chariot of sal- 
vation shall roll over them, and the glory of the gos- 
pel shine in all its effulgence around them. Their 
long train of bloody rites and superstitious ceremonies 
shall be abolished, and to the end of time Messiah 
shall be adored. Enlightened by the glorious tidings 
of salvation, and converted by the power of the Holy 
Ghost, the Grand Lama of the Tartars, and his super- 
stitious train of priests, shall renounce the altars of 
idolatry, and exult in the soul-saving efficacy of the 
sacrifice of Calvary. The iron car of Paganism shall 



48 ON THE EXISTENCE, GKEATNESS, AND 

cease to roll over the necks of its victims, and the 
flames of the funeral pile shall give place to the tri- 
umphs of pure religion. The wonderful structures 
and solemn abodes of the ancient objects of idolatrous 
worship, that have rung for centuries with the sounds 
of idolatrous adoration, shall echo with the songs of 
Zion and shouts of salvation. Eedeeming love shall 
roll like a mighty river throughout Pagan, Jewish, 
and Christian lands, and " righteousness, peace, and 
joy in the Holy Ghost," shall overflow all nations. 

He also gives complete triumph over Death. The 
scull-throned monarch shall at last resign his as- 
oendency, and the irresistible mandate of the eternal 
Jehovah will be heard in his deepest mansions. Jesus 
said, "I am the resurrection and the life." And now, 
faithful to his purpose, he appears for our redemption. 
He stretches out his sceptre and smites the sepulchres. 
The marble and moss-grown monuments rend asun- 
der ; he cries to the silent inhabitants within; his 
energizing voice echoes along the cold, damp vaults 
of death, and, lifting Up their emancipated heads, the 
occupants of the tomb start into immortal action. 
Death shall be " swallowed up in victory." And 
when "the heavens shall pass away with a great 
noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat," 
and when "the earth also, and the works that are 
therein, shall be burned up," then shall the final dam- 
nation of the wicked be secured, the redemption of 
the righteous be accomplished, and sin, death, and 
hell be eternally vanquished. " Then shall the King 



GOVERNMENT OF GOD. 



49 



say unto them on his right hand, Gome, ye blessed 
of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you 
from the foundation of the world." And he shall 
also say unto them on the left hand, "Depart from me, 
ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil 
and his angels." Then Fame's loud trump shall re- 
sound, and the orchestra of heaven shall sing — " Lift 
up your heads, O ye gates ; and be ye lifted up, ye 
everlasting doors ; and the King of glory shall come 
in. Who is this King of glory ? The Lord, strong 
and mighty; the Lord mighty in battle. Lift up 
your heads, O ye gates ; even lift them up, ye ever- 
lasting doors ; and the King of glory shall come in. 
Who is this King of glory ? The Lord of hosts, he 
is the King of glory. Selah." 

Fifthly. He reigns in the Kingdom of Glory. 

He reigns in the heaven of heavens, the glorious 
home of all the saints. Before Jesus Christ entered 
on that arena of contest and triumph that exalted him 
to his Father's right hand, and that gave him a name 
above every name, he said to his disciples, and 
through them to all his followers : "I go to prepare 
a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for 
you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself ; 
that where I am, there ye may be also." In that vast 
metropolis of the universal realm of the King of 
glory, there will be beings of a high and heavenly 
order, beyond all present description, to join with 
cherubim and seraphim, angels, and thrones, and do- 
minions, and principalities, and powers, i and all the 
4 



50 ON THE EXISTENCE, GREATNESS, AND 

blood-washed millions, to sweep the loud-strung lyre 
of infinite love along the tide of everlasting ages. 
There they shall engage in those transporting employ- 
ments, and act in obedience to those heavenly laws, 
that shall, from the indwelling fulness of immortal 
joy, perpetuate their happiness so long as the throne 
endures ; and around which, they shall enjoy endless 
blessedness, in growing up after the perfections of 
unoriginated Deity ; in which all the society of heaven 
will engage with unspeakable delight. 

But however enchanting the scenery, transporting 
the employment, and spotlessly pure the innumerable 
inhabitants, all will be outrivalled by the presence 
of God himself. He will be our supreme delight, our 
eternal glory. Immutable rectitude actuating the 
sovereign and subjects in all their proceedings, will 
maintain a reciprocity of affection, and continue an 
uninterrupted state of felicity that nothing can infract. 
On these principles, the being and happiness of glo- 
rified saints will be complete. Having fought the 
good fight, finished their course, and kept the faith 
to the end of their probation on earth, they will never 
fall from their moral steadfastness in heaven. And 
reaching forward after further manifestations of in- 
exhaustible goodness, our glorified vision shall look 
along the range of innumerable ages, and see new dis- 
pensations of immortal glory opening in endless per- 
spective before us, while " eternal hope," mounting on 
love's untrammelled pinions, shall bring anticipations 
of ineffable delight to charm the imagination, and 



GOVEKNMENT OF GOD. 



51 



transport the soul, as it proceeds eternally onward in 
righteous operation with a never ending administra- 
tion. And exulting in the unbounded greatness of 
the Monarch, the transcendent splendors of the throne, 
and the' indescribable blessedness of the subjects, we 
shall, in ecstacies unspeakable, melodiously sing, and 
everlastingly proclaim, that " The Lord is a great 
God, and a great king above all gods." 

"Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, 
the only wise God, be honor, and glory, forever and 
ever. Amen." 



SERMON II. 

ON THE 

EXISTENCE OF THE DEVIL, 

AND THE 

ORIGIN OF EVTHi. 



" He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinueth 
from the beginning." — 1 John iii. 8. 

Theee is no theological truth more scripturally 
established than the existence of Satan. He was the 
serpentine tempter that assailed our first parents in 
the garden of Eden ; and down through a range of 
patriarchal and Jewish ages, his footsteps were marked 
with desolation, until, with hellish ingenuity, he 
tempted the Son of God in the wilderness. In the 
days of the apostles, his destructive policy was in 
vigorous operation with the ignorance, idolatry, and 
wickedness of the heathen nations. And though 
Christians voluntarily renounced his dark and damn- 
ing administration, they were, nevertheless, exposed 
to such imminent danger from- his machinations that 
Paul was led to command the Ephesian saints to put 
on the whole armor of God, that they might be able 
to stand against his wiles. Peter, in his first general 
(52) 



THE OKIGIN OF EVIL. 



53 



epistle to believers in Christ, says : " Be sober, be 
vigilant ; because your adversary, the devil, as a roar- 
ing lion walketh about seeking whom he may de- 
vour." And John, who had wonderful visions and 
revelations concerning the spiritual world, denomi- 
nated him "the angel of the bottomless pit — the 
dragon, that old serpent, which is the devil and 
Satan." 

But the text itself is incontrovertible proof, for we 
are assured, in its heaven-inspired phraseology, that 
" He that committeth sin is of the devil ; for the 
devil sinneth from the beginning." Here we have 
not only his positive existence clearly established, but 
his long duration in wickedness evidently exhibited. 
Instead, then, of denying his real being, we should 
rely with unshaken confidence on the teaching of the 
Bible, the great standard of truth, reason, and right- 
eousness, that sheds its benign effulgence on the 
world, and loudly calls upon us to resist the infernal 
chief that is leading myriads to perdition. But not- 
withstanding this, some have recourse to shallow criti- 
cisms, allegories, and personifications, to overthrow 
his personal existence, and to silence their well- 
grounded fears of dwelling with him in eternity — as 
if their unwarrantable and infidel sentiments here 
could save them from " eternal damnation" hereafter. 
How deplorably lamentable it is to realize, that while 
he is leading millions captive at his will, many of 
them are denying his positive being, and seem to 
think, that all is well with them, because they are 



54 OIS" THE EXISTENCE OF THE DEVIL, 

persuading themselves that there is no devil, no hell, 
no everlasting punishment; not knowing that in their 
wilful rebellion against the truth, delusions, black as 
the mist of eternal death, are falling upon the optics 
of their understanding through the influence of the 
devil himself, who, at the head of his infernal hosts, 
" grins a horrible smile" at the ascendency he main- 
tains over the devil-denying fraternity. And though 
the objections of infidels, latitudinarians, and mongrel 
professors of religion, are various, in denial of the 
existence of an evil spirit who is at the head of all 
the principalities and powers of hell, yet these ob- 
jections may be all summed up in the three following 
theories. First — That two principles, of good and 
evil, always existed, and that Satan is only the evil prin- 
ciple personified. Secondly — That fallen human nature 
is the devil specified in the Sacred Scriptures. And 
Thirdly — That sinful actions are the devil that the 
Bible guards us against. Now, as these propositions 
contain all the devil-denying doctrines that call for 
serious refutation, they must be brought to the test ; 
and then if they stand not, reason and revelation will 
sink them to the centre of falsehood, where all erro- 
neous doctrines shall find their own equilibrium. In 
discoursing on the important points to be managed in 
this Sermon, I shall, by Divine assistance, refute, in 
the first place, the three theories that comprise the 
objections to Satan's existence. Secondly, describe 
the origin of evil, and the positive existence of Satan, 
as established by Scripture and reason. 



AND THE ORIGIN OF EVIL. 



55 



I. Eefute the Three Theories in which the 
Devil-denying Doctrines are comprised. 

1. The doctrine that two principles, of good and evil, 
eterntdly existed, and that the devil is only the evil prin- 
ciple personified, now claims our attention. * The exist- 
ence of two eternal principles was advocated by Manes. 
He taught that our souls were made by the good prin- 
ciple, and our bodies by the evil one ; and that these 
" principles were co-eternal and independent, and 
each was subject to the dominion of a superintendent 
Being, whose existence was from eternity." If, then, 
as the first proposition and the doctrine of Manes sup- 
pose, that evil eternally existed, it must have dwelt in 
matter or spirit from all eternity. But we assert that 
it could not have had an eternal residence in matter, 
for its nature and qualities prove that it is finite, and 
could not therefore be eternal. Any thing unorigi- 
nated and eternal, must be uncircumscribed ; for as 
nothing could be, prior to what is eternal, to limit its 
existence, it would necessarily fill all space at the 
same time. But as the divisibility, mutations, fluc- 
tuations, and transmissions of matter prove its limita- 
tion, it cannot be philosophically acknowledged as 
the eternal residence of the principle in question — 
and we must now rest the whole weight of the argu- 
ment on evil being eternally inherent in spirit. All 
spirits are either finite or infinite, and we cannot logi- 
cally contend that an eternal principle could dwell in 
a finite spirit from all eternity, as a finite being could 
not be eternal. We must therefore refer to an infinite 



56 OjST the existence of the devil, 

spirit as the author and residence of the principle here 
implied. But then, in advocating this, we would have, 
in its application to God, to renounce him as the God 
of the Bible ; for were we to admit an evil principle 
in him, we might as well discard him altogether. 
John sayeth : " God is light, and in him is no dark- 
ness at all." The absolute perfection of an infinite 
nature would eternally preclude the possibility of an 
indwelling principle of evil. When, therefore, the 
essential holiness of God is admitted, then the only 
remaining subterfuge is to find a bad eternal being, 
in whom the evil principle eternally existed, to con- 
trast with the God of heaven, as the author of all 
good, or to suppose an eternal spirit that possessed 
both principles. But, that no bad being could exist 
from eternity, can be easily established ; for whatever 
else such a one could possess, he would be destitute 
of holiness and goodness, and thus be imperfect in 
his nature ; and as nothing imperfect could be eternal, 
as being devoid of what would be essential to an un- 
originated existence, that could imply no defect or 
limitation — so all arguments in favor of such an un- 
paralleled monster would be baseless and foolish. 

The next and only thing in this proposition to be 
refuted, is the possibility of an eternal existence pos- 
sessing both principles of good and evil. And though 
this, in the former case, has been indirectly shown to 
be impossible, because of the absolute perfection of 
an infinite nature, it must, nevertheless, have a dis- 
tinct explanation, and be totally destroyed by fair 



AND THE OKIGIN ol EVIL. 



57 



argument. If, then, a being exist in whom the two 
principles were eternally inherent, we are logically 
compelled to admit the following: First, that they 
have no power ; or, secondly, that both are equal in 
power ; or thirdly, that one of them is more powerful 
than the other. Now, the first of these being so mani- 
festly absurd, it cannot be seriously advocated — for 
that which would be devoid of power, could have no 
spiritual existence or active principle, nor be the cause 
of any good or evil in the universe ; and instead of 
calling it an eternal principle, we might rather de- 
nominate it an eternal nonentity. And we must pass 
on to the second supposition, that both principles are 
equal in power ; and when that is admitted, it logi- 
cally follows that no action conld be performed, nor 
end accomplished, for when equal and opposite power 
come in contact, there can be no victory, because 
when each would strive for the mastery both would 
be unsuccessful. 

Leaving these powers on their own equilibrium, we 
are necessarily led to the third idea, that one of the 
principles is more powerful than the other. On this 
ground we maintain that the being in whom these 
principles wouid supposedly reside must be free in all 
his volitions ; for as there conld be no power foreign 
from himself but what would be finite, and as no finite 
power could compel to action him who is infinite, his 
own will would therefore be the governing principle 
in his proceedings, and all good or all evil would be 
the result of his volition, according to the power ex- 



58 ON THE EXISTENCE OF THE DEVIL, 



erted by the strongest principle. This, then, being 
established, the strongest power would always prevail, 
and the effect follow in logical proportion. To deny 
this, is to afnrm that the weaker principle of an intel- 
ligent nature could triumphantly oppose and subject 
the stronger one, when both would be oppositely 
striving for the mastery, which would be a contradic- 
tion, when properly understood, that no logician would 
seriously advocate. "We are now brought to the in- 
evitable conclusion, that he who is supposed to pos- 
sess the two eternal principles implied in this proposi- 
tion, could not be the first and eternal cause of all the 
good or evil in existence. We must, therefore, look 
to some other source for the principle that originally 
produced evil, or that is a personified devil, in opposi- 
tion to the real scriptural view of his positive exist- 
ence. And any devil-denying caviller that would 
argue for an eternal principle of evil, as a reason for 
his denial of the positive existence of the infernal 
chief, is hereby held* up by these arguments to the 
chastisement of public and logical reprehension, and, 
in the open face of all his infidel associates, is proven 
to be an ignoramus, and not capable of philosophical 
and theological discrimination, except his opposition 
to the' truth arises from intellectual and wilful wicked- 
ness, and not from psychological imbecility. 

Now the only plausible objection that can be brought 
against our reasons on any of our positions, in denial 
of an eternal principle of evil, will perhaps be on the 
point that, if the strongest principle of an eternally in- 



AND THE ORIGIN OF EVIL 



59 



telligent nature would always influence the will in its 
volitions, then ; in application of that doctrine to other 
intelligences, no si a could ever have been committed, 
seeing that God created all holy; and, according to that, 
holiness would have constantly inclined and determined 
the will of all moral beings, and thus sin could not 
have existed, if evil had not been eternal. But how- 
ever formidable this objection may appear at first 
sight, it is, nevertheless, no obstacle in the way of our 
argument, which proceeds altogether on the supposi- 
tion, as the proposition implies, of an infinite intelli- 
gence being the author of the two eternal principles, 
opposite in their nature, and one of which stronger 
than the other in its existence, and consequently more 
powerful in its tendency ; and there would therefore 
be, in this respect, a vast difference between a created 
and an infinite being, A finite spirit, however holy, 
might act in reference to something foreign from 
itself, and thereby be inconsistent in its proceedings. 
It might originate the thought of ascending to some 
higher rank, or of accomplishing some end that might 
involve different consequences from those in expecta- 
tion when the volition was wrongly exercised, and 
the departure from righteousness first made ; and how- 
ever happy in past allegiance to law, and in loving 
God, it might, as a probationary intelligence, be allured 
to sin in hope of obtaining something that would add 
to its future aggrandizement, and justify, in its own 
estimation, its present disloyalty; but an infinite 
being could aspire to no rank above himself, nor rise 



60 ON THE EXISTENCE OF THE DEVIL, 



at any time against the laws of a superior, and could 
have no possible inducement to prompt him, under 
any circumstance, to act contrary to the absolute holi- 
ness, or nature of his own existence ; so the objection 
vanishes, and leaves our argument in this, as in all 
other points, conclusively established in overthrowing 
the theory of an eternal principle of evil, and in main- 
taining the real existence of Satan. If there could be 
an eternal principle of active evil, it would have to 
exist in an eternal being, for it would be absurd to 
say that a living active principle could exist without 
a living existence as its inherent source, and would be 
unphilosophic and contradictory. And as Jehovah, 
the Grod of the Bible, is the only eternal existence, we 
must discard all others ; and as reason and revelation 
prove that there cannot be two or more eternal beings, 
we therefore show the entire fallacy of an eternal prin- 
ciple of evil; and must now resolve all that we have 
here opposed into the latitudinarian roamings of the 
human imagination, broken loose from sound philo- 
sophical and scriptural principles. 

2. The theory that the devil, specified in the Bible, is 
only the personification of fallen human nature, shall now 
be examined and refuted. It is here freely admitted 
that the name of Satan has sometimes been figura- 
tively applied to others ; and that even in the Bible it 
is proven that, in a personified sense, it was applied 
to a human being by Christ himself; for he said unto 
Peter: "Get thee behind me, Satan; thou art an offence 
unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of 



AND THE OKIGIN OF EVIL. 61 

God, but those that be of men." 'Now, surely, no in- 
telligent man should argue from this against the posi- 
tive existence of Satan, from whom the figurative 
application to Peter was made ; for there are other 
passages of the Bible that exhibit the devil, or Satan, 
as a fallen wicked being, who is opposed to God and 
human happiness, and which cannot be figuratively and 
philosophically explained away. In the third chapter 
of Genesis, Satan, in the form of a serpent, is represented 
as having tempted Eve to sin before human nature 
could have been a personified devil, in tempting her 
to disobey the command of her Maker ; and a dreadful 
curse is there pronounced upon him as the first agent 
in leading her to transgression ; and, therefore, fallen 
human nature could not have been the devil in that 
case ; for that would imply that Eve's fallen nature, in 
the form of a serpent, or personified devil, tempted her 
to fall before she had fallen : which would be a contra- 
diction too monstrous to be advocated by any in- 
telligent man that was not duped by the devil him- 
self. 

Another triumphant refutation of the personification 
of fallen human nature as the only devil specified in 
the Bible, is found in the fourth chapter of Matthew's 
Gospel, where it is said that Jesus was "led up of the 
Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil." 
Now if fallen human nature had been the tempter, or 
devil, on that occasion, it would inevitably follow that 
Christ was tempted by his own fallen nature, or by the 
human nature of another. But the absurdity of the 



62 ON THE EXISTENCE OF THE DEVIL, 

first supposition will easily appear by the testimony 
of the Bible, which exhibit^ him as "the brightness" 
of the Father's " glory," and the "express image of his 
person," in whom, as "the Holy One of God," there 
could be no fallen nature by which a devil could be 
personified as his tempter at any time. Neither could 
he, according to the second supposition, have been 
tempted in the wilderness by the human nature 
of another, for he was led by the Spirit to meet 
the tempter apart from human society, where the temp- 
tations had all their infernal force, but were resisted 
and endured to the uttermost. Here, then, we have 
the positive existence of the devil established abstract 
from, and as being no personification of, fallen human 
nature ; and, therefore, reason and revelation demon- 
strably prove that Satan himself was the real devil 
that tempted the Son of God in the wilderness ; and it 
would be an awful perversion of truth to deny the 
plain statement of the Bible, or to endeavor to destroy 
its real meaning by sophistical and illogical argu- 
ments. 

3. The theory that sinful actions are the only devil that 
the Bible guards us against, is now to be investigated and 
overthrown. Here we can easily hem up all the advo- 
cates of this doctrine within the bounds of an impassi- 
ble dilemma, for there could be no wicked human 
actions prior to the fall of Adam and Eve to be a 
devil to seduce them from their allegiance to God, or 
to form a wicked example for them to follow ; for 
they were the first human pair, and fell from the 



AND THE ORIGIN OF EVIL. 63 

I 

Divine image in which they were created before they 
had any offspring to produce bad actions to tempt 
them to rebel against their rightful sovereign ; and 
thus the existence of the tempter or devil, prior to 
human wicked actions and the fall of man, is positively 
established beyond intelligent contradiction. 

But notwithstanding the baseless nature of thetheo- 
ries that I am opposing, some still cling with great 
tenacity to their metaphorical explanations of Satan, 
,and, lamentable to record, among whom, are found 
some ministers of the holy sanctuary; and because 
they cannot deny with any show of truth, that the 
Bible, in various places, mentions the actual existence 
of the Prince of darkness under positive names, and 
as guilty of numerous immoral actions, they often 
ignorantly, and sometimes ingeniously, endeavor to 
explain the whole scriptural account of Satan's exist- 
ence and proceedings as altogether figurative; and 
thereby involve themselves and superficial thinkers 
in egregious inconsistencies, in opposition to the true 
meaning of the Book of God. And because diabolos, 
the Greek word for devil, is used by inspiration to 
designate a slanderer or false accuser, and diabohus 
for slanderers and false accusers, see 1 Timothy, iii. 11, 
and Titus ii. 3, cavillers may think that they have 
gained a complete ascendency over the doctrine for 
which I contend, while they should know that the 
application of the word in the above places, is only to 
designate those that so closely imitate the example of 
the old serpent, the great slanderer and accuser. They 



64 ON THE EXISTENCE OF THE DEVIL, 

should also know that diabolos is used in other parts of 
the Divine oracles in a sense that no sound criticism 
or fair explanation could apply to a personification of 
evil principles, fallen human nature, or wicked human 
actions. It would be perfectly ridiculous for any in- 
telligent man, or minister of the sanctuary, to deny 
the real positive personality of. the devil, because his 
name has been applied to others in some instances as a 
figure of speech and not as a personal reality. , 

On that same principle, a person might deny the 
positive existence of the angels in heaven, because 
aggelos, the Greek word for angel, has been applied to 
ministers, or messengers of salvation, as recorded in 
the Apocalyptical account of the seven churches of 
Asia, where each minister is called an angel ; and how 
absolutely foolish would objectors appear in denying 
the existence of angelic spirits because of the figurative 
application of the word angel to pastors of churches, 
or to Christ himself, as the Angel or Messenger of 
the Covenant ! And strange to tell, " yea, passing 
strange," by this very mode of figurative application 
many deny the existence of Satan ; and on this false 
principle, argue themselves farther into the mist of 
darkness. 

On this same ground of interpretation they might 
go a step farther and deny the positive existence of 
God himself, because in the Hebrew Bible and Greek 
Testament the word that is translated spirit, is also 
applied to wind ; see the book of Genesis, prophecy of 
Isaiah, and the gospel of John. And objectors might 



r 



AND THE ORIGIN OF EVIL. 



65 



openly declare that Jehovah, the Great Spirit, is only 
a personification of wind. And by this metaphorical 
metamorphosis and wonderful logic the whole devil- 
denying fraternity might believe themselves to be but 
sheep or goats, because Christ, speaking of the day of 
judgment, declared that he will • ■ set thfc sheep on his 
right hand, but the goats on the left ;" and according 
to their mode of interpretation, they might demonstra- 
bly prove that the Son of God will come in the clouds 
of heaven with power and great glory to judge four- 
footed beasts. And is this the ultimatum to which 
the devil-denying doctrine of infidels, Hicksites, and 
modern Universalists leads us? Alas! when the 
true Biblical bounds of Divine inspiration are passed, 
who can tell to what foolish extremes, even professed 
theologians may run, in supporting their latitudinarian 
opinions, on which the true genius of Christianity 
frowns unutterable things in favor of truth and righte- 
ousness. 

In the book of Job, Satan is proven to be a posi- 
tive and not a figurative existence. " There was a 
day when the sons of God came to present themselves 
before the Lord, and Satan came also among them, to 
present himself before the Lord. And the Lord said 
unto Satan, From whence comest thou ? And Satan 
answered the Lord, and said, From going to and fro 
in the earth, and from walking up and down in it. 
And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered 
my servant Job, that there is none like him in the 
earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth 
5 



66 ON THE EXISTENCE OF THE DEVIL, 

God and escheweth evil ?" Now we know no rule of 
criticism, figure of speech, or personification of things 
which would reasonably, or even plausibly prove that 
Jehovah was then talking to human actions, and that 
they were conversing with him, or that they brought 
fire from hefiven to destroy Job's property, and ac- 
complished all those other exploits specified in the 
inspired history of those transactions. And notwith- 
standing all this account of the devil's existence, and 
proceedings given by the inspiration of God, purblind 
professors, semi-infidels, and personifying ITniversa- 
lists, would make the whole a mere allegory, with- 
out any solid basis on which the revealed account, 
could rest. 

In the epistle of Jude, we are informed that 
"Michael, the archangel, when contending with the 
Devil, he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not 
bring against him a railing accusation, but said, " The 
Lord rebuke thee." Here we may plainly see that 
this dispute could not have been between Michael and 
human actions, or human beings, for the Lord buried 
Moses in a valley in the land of Moab, and no man 
knew where he was laid ; so none could contend about 
his body. And it would be extremely foolish for in- 
fidels, or Universalists, to assert that Michael, Moses, 
and the devil were all personifications of evil prin- 
ciples or evil actions. Come now, ye infidel controver- 
sialists, and mongrel professors of Bible religion, and 
exert your personifying energies in exploration of 
this wonderful doctrine that eventuates in such a 



AND THE ORIGIN OF EVIL. 



67 



metaphorical farce, dishonorable to God, and dis- 
graceful to any theological intellect that would 
advocate any system that contains such a hetero- 
geneous mass of blind and unphilosophical materials, 
and over which the devil himself might expatiate 
with hellish satisfaction while you are deliberately op- 
posing the truth that God himself has inspired. 

But a final refutation of the theory of wicked human' 
actions being the personified devil of the Bible, is 
found in the twentieth chapter of the Revelation of 
Jesus Christ by St. John, where it is declared that the 
devil who deceived the nations "was cast into the lake 
of fire and # brimstone* where the beast and the false 
prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night 
forever and ever." The devil here specified cannot 
be personified actions or human beings ; for these 
beings, as the last verse showeth, who were not writ- 
ten in the book of life, were cast in with the beast, the 
devil, and the false prophet. Neither could they be 
personified human actions ; for as they are incapable 
of suffering, they cannot, by any construction of lan- 
guage, figure of speech, or personification of things, be 
made the subjects of torture, torment, and damnation. 
We may therefore clearly see, that when the objector's 
devil is weighed in the balance of truth, it is found 
wanting, and is proven to be the mere offspring of a 
fanciful and foolish imagination, which might be as 
reasonably employed in contradicting the existence of 
the angels in heaven, as in denying the actual being 
of the Apollyon of hell, who is so openly and fear- 



68 ON THE EXISTENCE OF THE DEVIL, 

fully exhibited in the Bible in opposition to God and 
righteousness. On these incontestable principles we 
now find, when the three propositions of the devil- 
denying doctrine are strictly investigated, that they 
are obviously deficient, foolishly absurd, and demon- 
strably false, and reflect great dispraise on the intelli- 
gence of those who believe them, or on their hypocrisy 
for advocating them if they do not believe them. All 
such are now reduced to the necessity of renouncing 
them forever, or of giving up all serious and honest 
expectations of supporting them by any argument 
that Scripture and reason would logically justify. 
Wilful perversions of the Book of God, ,and denying 
its essential truths, amount to nearly the same, in pro- 
portionate degree, as discarding it altogether as deists 
do. And if purblind professors of religion, in their 
semi- infidel views, and heterodox theologians, in de- 
nying or explaining erroneously some of the most 
important doctrines of the Bible, would only take an- 
other step, and openly deny its inspiration, then, 
instead of meeting them as Universalists, Swedenbor- 
gians, and Hicksite Quakers, we would confront them 
as actual infidels, to the full amount of their infidelity. 

Having proven that a principle of evil could not 
have eternally existed, in either matter or spirit, we 
leave the votaries of this fine-spun theory to the de- 
plorable necessity and actual mortification of seeing 
their fabrication pass away in the darkness of meta- 
physical mist. We have also met and refuted the 
propositions, that fallen human nature and wicked 



AND the origin of evil. 



69 



human actions are the only devil actually exhibited 
in the sacred oracles, and knowing no other devil- 
denying theories to confute, shall now give a true 
description of the origin of evil, and the real existence 
of Satan, in contrast with the three theories on which 
we have so amply animadverted. 

II. Explain the Origin of Evil, and exhibit 

THE REAL EXISTENCE OF SATAN, AS ESTABLISHED BY 
REASON AND revelation. If, then, as we have shown, 
there could be no eternal principle of evil, and as Je- 
hovah, the God of the Bible, is the only unoriginated 
existence, and therefore boundlessly holy in all his 
perfections, it demonstrably follows that the author of 
evil must have been finite. And as mere matter of 
itself could not originate and commit sin, the first 
transgressor must have been an intelligent being, and, 
like all other intelligences, was once perfectly holy ; 
for the Creator, who is infinitely pure, could communi- 
cate no imperfection to others. It is also obvious 
that the first transgressor, as an accountable being, 
had a law to keep, and in obedience to which his 
safety and happiness would be eternally perpetuated ; 
but, by a wrong exercise of volition, moral evil was 
introduced, and through the violation of law, holy 
beings became contaminated. St. Peter declares that 
" God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them 
down to hell, and delivered them into chains of dark- 
ness, to be reserved unto judgment." This passage 
fully establishes the fallen state of some angelic 



70 ON THE EXISTENCE OF THE DEVIL, 

beings, who were once righteous subjects of God's 
moral government. 

St. Jude affirms the same doctrine in saying: "The 
angels which kept not their first estate, but left their 
own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains 
under darkness unto the judgment of the great day." 
St. John says "sin^is the transgression of the law." 
And the apostle Paul declares " where no law is, there 
is no transgression." Here, then, it is absolutely 
proven that sin is a violation of law, and therefore the 
angels that sinned were subjects of law, and account- 
able to God ; and had power to obey or disobey the 
law, or they could not have been responsible for their 
proceedings, nor be proper subjects of moral law, or 
of rewards and punishments, which in free agents 
would imply the righteousness or unrighteousness of 
their own voluntary acts, in relation to the moral 
standard of accountability by which they could be 
properly judged. 

God, on principles of wise and benevolent legisla- 
tion, could not bring rational beings into existence, 
and in harmony with holiness and justice, exert his 
omnipotence in prompting them to rebellion against 
himself, as the great Lawgiver. For that would place 
his proceedings in contradictory opposition, and there- 
by give an awful exhibition of inconsistency in first 
forming them holy and happy, and afterward forcing 
or leading them into sin, that he might damn them, 
ultimately, in hell. Such contradictions never have 
tarnished, and never could tarnish, the unblemished 



AND THE ORIGIN OF EVIL. 



71 



character of the Lord Jehovah. Moral evil was pro- 
duced without any propelling influence from the great 
Creator, and actually consisted in the wilful violation 
of moral law, that the transgressor had power to keep, 
as an intelligent subject of the King eternal. Now 
this view of original transgression, as the origin of 
evil, fairly exculpates Jehovah from all participation 
in the introduction of evil into his realm ; and, there- 
fore, no man can trace it up to any degree or necessi- 
tating foreknowledge of God. For as all his laws are 
holy, just, and good, he never could have designed or 
decreed that angels or other pure spirits should vio- 
late the laws which are a transcript of his own eternal 
nature, that were given as the rule of action to bind 
allegiance to himself, as the Prototype of all righteous- 
ness. The law, which is Divine in its Author, un- 
changeable in its nature, reasonable in its require- 
ments, and everlasting in its obligations, must stand 
forth before all worlds as incontestable evidence that 
no unholiness in design, decree, or effect, can be 
charged on the supreme Euler, notwithstanding his 
unlimited foreknowledge of all things on the tide of 
time and roll of eternity. For an attribute that re- 
mains infinitely holy in its existence can never be the 
author of sin in its exercise, either to a limited or un- 
limited extent. To deny this, or to make God's fore- 
knowledge, in any sense, the cause of sin, would 
unphilosophically suppose that sin, in decree or effect, 
could arise from perfect holiness as the absolute and 
infinite cause, which would be a fallacy too obvious 



72 ON THE EXISTENCE OF THE DEVIL, 

for any logical theologian to advocate. And as fore- 
knowledge can have no propelling influence on sinful 
actions that must wholly depend on free agents for 
their existence, they would be actually the same if 
God had been previously ignorant of them ; and there- 
fore Divine knowledge could not, in any respect, be 
made accountable for moral evil ; for omniscience, act- 
ing in harmony with all the other attributes, can never 
be the cause of the violation of any law that has for 
its foundation the existence of God himself. We 
therefore maintain that the origin of evil cannot be 
ascribed to any predestinating cause found in the ex- 
ercise of omniscience, but consisted in the transgres- 
sion of a Divine law, by a finite accountable intelli- 
gence, that was able to stand as a moral agent, but 
had power to fall by sinning against its rightful Sov- 
ereign. But here an objector might ask why God 
made intelligent beings capable of sinning against 
himself, by subjecting them to the fulfilment of moral 
law, and the violation of which would involve them 
in misery. "We answer, that this would be the same 
as to ask why he gave them a rational existence, for 
on no other ground, but in relation to law and right- 
eousness, could he create intelligent spirits proper 
subjects of moral government. And to suppose that 
spiritual beings should be under no moral regulations, 
would be to place them on a level with mere matter, 
that could not of itself be subject to moral administra- 
tion, but have to be actuated by coercion. We may 
now see that the real import of that question would 



AND THE ORIGIN OF EVIL. 



73 



be to constrict the Godhead to eternal solitude, without 
any intelligent spirits to govern, or to the creation of 
matter only, which could have no intelligence to wor- 
ship and love the Creator. And though, in tracing 
moral evil to its original source, we have no informa- 
tion on the real nature of angelic probation, we never- 
theless have it clearly revealed that " the angels that 
sinned God cast down to hell," which plainly proves 
that they were under moral law, and sinned against 
their own everlasting interests by disobedience to the 
mandates of the Lord Jebovah. 

We have now arrived at the point of convergence 
where all the rays of light shed on this mysterious 
subject centre ; and where the intelligent reader may 
plainly see, that the first unhallowed thought origi- 
nated by the understanding, and put in actual 
operation by the will of an accountable being in 
transgression of, moral law produced sin, and sin made 
its author a devil. Here, now, is the true unsophisti- 
cated exhibition of the origin of evil ; and all meta- 
phorical descriptions, figurative representations, and 
personified personalities, designed to overthrow a 
belief in the positive immaterial existence of Satan, 
ought to be renounced as unworthy of the enlightened 
intellect of a traveller to eternity, and the truth under 
all circumstances be openly acknowledged. Truth is 
the offspring of God, and in its relation to salvation, 
leads to true happiness on earth, and to crowns and 
thrones of glory in heaven. But falsehood is the 
offspring of the devil, and tends to misery here, and, 



74 ON THE EXISTENCE OF THE DEVIL, 

in some of its phases, to "eternal damnation" here- 
after. And though there are degrees in error, and 
some false doctrines have not the same amount of 
deleterious influence on the minds and morals of their 
votaries that others have, we nevertheless, consider 
the ungodly in an awful situation, who laugh at- the 
idea of Satan's existence while he is leading them on 
to eternal ruin. The Bible says, " Eesist the devil, and 
he will flee from you;" but how can those religiously 
resist him, who do not believe in his positive exist- 
ence, or deny it in compliance with the views of 
infidels, and make money by preaching, printing, and 
spreading heresy against the trath of Grod. 

The Holy Scriptures, though sparing in their infor- 
mation concerning the spiritual world, and reserving 
to infinite wisdom a vast amount of important truth 
to be revealed in eternity, make known many infernal 
spirits, and over all of whom Satan seems to be, or 
actually is, enthroned chief. And whether his infer- 
nal superiority arose from his being of a higher 
degree of intellectual greatness than the rest, or 
whether he was the first transgressor, and claimed it 
as his right to reign over the lower orders of devils, 
or practicing on the example of others that were 
prior to himself in wickedness, he performed such 
infernal exploits as made him in the estimation of all 
his associates the most adequate to rule the combined 
principalities and powers of hell, is not fully revealed. 
Neither is it necessary, for the success of a battle does 
not always depend on the entire knowledge of every 



AND THE ORIGIN* OF EVIL. 



75 



transaction in the past history of the foe. And 
though, in this life, we must remain ignorant of many 
things concerning the devil and his angels, we never* 
theless maintain, that while we are manfully resisting 
him as the infernal chief, we are then successfully 
standing against all the hosts of darkness. For as 
the Holy Spirit is actively engaged in perpetuating 
righteousness, and as all good can be traced to the 
unoriginated Jehovah, so the devil may be identified 
with all kinds of wickedness, as the hellish source 
of all the unrighteousness on earth. And though, 
like the infinite Spirit, he cannot fill all space at the 
same time, yet he can exert an influence in all parts 
of this globe, and by his human and infernal agents, 
and all the facilities within the range of his dominion, 
can easily act as the prince of darkness or king of 
hell in all things contrary to righteousness and true 
holiness ; and therefore lead on the sons and daughters 
of vanity and wickedness captive at his will, while 
they are Divinely commanded to serve him, who 
" was manifested that he might destroy the works of 
the devil." Instead, then, of ignorantly or wickedly 
denying Satan's existence, or being influenced sinfully 
by his machinations, we should listen to the voice of 
the apostle Paul, who sayeth : " For we wrestle not 
against flesh and blood, but against principalities, 
against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of 
this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. 
Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, 
that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and 



76 ON THE EXISTENCE OF THE DEVIL, 

having done all to stand. Stand therefore, having 
your loins girt about with truth, and having on the 
breast-plate of righteousness ; and your feet shod with 
the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, 
taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able 
to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked." Here 
Jehovah has not only exhibited the infernal hosts 
against whom we are to contend, but has plainly 
assured us that by the whole armor of righteousness 
we may triumphantly overcome them all. 

The devil, in the language of the text, has been a 
sinner from the beginning • and who can now date 
that commencement, or fully paraphrase on the dark 
and daring deeds of wickedness with which he stands 
charged since he became a renegade from God and 
righteousness. And think, think ! of the horrid 
abominations that he has prompted millions to com- 
mit since the fall of Adam ; and of the bloody and 
superstitious rites of idolatry over which he has pre- 
sided for a series of centuries ; and then reflect, that 
all the wickedness with which he is connected in the 
history of our race, may be but a small part of his 
ways, and might, perhaps, make but a few pages in 
the chronicles of his whole proceedings. Could we 
explore those ages of ages that rolled their ample 
round before this world was created, we might then 
unfold the extent of his rebellion, and trace him in 
his ways and works of wickedness. But we are not- 
permitted to unroll the volume of eternity, and to 
take our stand on the determinate point of duration 



AND THE ORIGIN OF EVIL. 



77 



when sin was first committed ; for on this the Bible is 
silent. Neither can we incontrovertible demonstrate 
the, place where the Divine law was first transgressed ; 
for thongh the sacred oracles lead us back to the fall 
of angels, as they are so strictly connected with the 
history of our world, yet who can tell what tran- 
spired in eternity prior to their downfall, or whether N 
they were the first intelligences that wandered from 
,the path of rectitude ? All baseless opinions and 
curious speculations on the time when, and the place 
where, the law was first violated, would be no strength 
to the objection against Satan's existence, nor difficulty 
in the way of our argument ; for before the entrance 
of sin, all places in Jehovah's dominions were holy, 
and all probationary intelligences were capable of 
transgression. We have now maintained by argu- 
ments that no opponent will ever be able to over- 
throw, that moral evil can be traced to a violation of 
law ; and that there positively exists a fallen spirit 
scripturally denominated the " devil and Satan ;" and 
shall, therefore, with the utmost confidence in the 
truth of our position, leave the result to the blessing 
of God and the careful perusal of attentive readers. 



SEKMON III. 
REDEMPTION AND SALVATION. 

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten 
Son, that whosoever helieveth in him should not perish, but 
have everlasting life." — John iii. 16. 

The great scheme of gospel salvation brings every 
minister of the sanctuary under obligations to con- 
tribute, in all possible ways, his proportionate part of 
effort to the glory of God, and the welfare of man. 
On these principles, I shall, by Divine assistance, fur- 
nish the following Sermon on the unparalleled love 
of God to a lost and ruined world — in which the dig- 
nity of the moral law, the harmony of the Divine 
attributes, and the unchangeable principles of good 
government, will be maintained, in the salvation of 
true believers, through the sacrifice of Calvary, in 
opposition to those unwarrantable views that some 
have proclaimed, and from which the votaries of error 
can only he reasonably extricated by a proper under- 
standing of those heaven-inspired doctrines that ex- 
hibit the true character of God's boundless goodness 
in saving penitent sinners, according to the same jus* 
tice which must be in operation with the final over» 
(78) 



REDEMPTION AND SALVATION. 



79 



throw of all who reject the covenant of mercy, and 
choose death, in the error of their ways. And not- 
withstanding the publication of many false doctrines 
from the pulpit and the press, some good and learned 
theologians seem unwilling to launch forth into a fear- 
less and argumentative explanation of the present and 
eternal bearings of redemption on Jehovah's adminis- 
tration, in making salvation possible to all mankind, 
and eternally sure to all who comply with the require- 
ments of the gospel, in everlastingly obviating the 
penalty of violated law, which must fearfully fall on 
all who die in their sins. And while such expositors 
content themselves with mere assertions and flaming 
declamations, rather than logical arguments, infidels 
are prone to suppose, that while the Bible is loud in 
eloquent and sweeping assertions, it is nevertheless 
deficient in sound logic- But instead of Jehovah 
wishing to regulate the proceedings of his followers 
by any blind fatality, superstitious zeal, or unreasona- 
ble requirements, he invites them to the temple where 
reason enforces her logical decisions, and sayeth, 
"Come, and let us reason together." The apostle 
Paul, the great champion that raised his head on the 
battlements of Zion, laid the great stress of his mis- 
sion on the argumentative process of truth, and the 
power of the Holy Ghost, and made the fallacious 
arguments of his opponents pass away like clouds be- 
fore the morninsr sun. Now, while the church is bask- 
ing in the outbeaming splendors of gospel Christian- 
ity, ministers may easily descend into the profundities 



80 



REDEMPTION AND SALVATION. 



of truth, righteousness, and reason, and explain those 
glorious doctrines, that have God for their author, and 
the glories of eternity for their ultimatum. There- 
fore, in discoursing on the text now before us, we 
shall, in the first place, exhibit the moral state of the 
world prior to and at the coming of Christ ; secondly, 
that for this whole world, in rebellion against its right- 
ful sovereign, God gave his only begotten Son ; and 
thirdly, that this wide and wondrous display of ever- 
lasting love was made, that " whosoever believeth in 
him should not perish, but have everlasting life." 

I. The Moral state of the world prior to and 

AT THE COMING OF CHRIST FOR SALVATION. 

1. It was a fallen world. The mission of the Son 
of God to save the world, proves its fallen state. For 
if all mankind had continued in their pristine purity, 
no propitiation would have been essential to a per- 
petuation of their blessedness. But, through the 
tempting power of Satan, and a wrong exercise of 
human agency, Adam and Eve fell from their moral 
standing, and involved themselves and all mankind 
in the ruins of a fallen nature. They also forfeited 
all the blessings of Paradise, and were driven from 
the arbors of Eden, with the doleful tidings of death 
sounding in their ears ; for God said unto Adam, 
" Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy 
wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I com- 
manded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it : Cursed 
is the ground for thy sake ; in sorrow shalt thou eat 



REDEMPTION AND SALVATION. 



81 



of it all the days of thy life." Oar first parents being 
so deeply fallen, all mankind must be fallen also, and 
he who admits the Scripture testimony of the fall of 
Adam and Eve, and denies the fallen state of all man- 
kind, denies the inevitable connection between cause 
and effect, and evinces unwarrantable ignorance of 
the philosophy of our existence, and the true meaning 
of the Divine oracles, which incontestably establish 
the deplorably impure state of unregenerate nature. 

2. It was a wicked world. "Wickedness was awfully 
evinced at an early age of the world in the conduct 
. of Cain, who, with horrid barbarity, slew his brother 
Abel, who had obtained righteousness through faith 
in the coming Messiah ; and Jehovah, outwardly tes- 
tified to his faithfulness in offering on the sacrificial 
altar an acceptable sacrifice. And as the earth became 
more populated, sin still increased,, in all manner of 
abominations, until " God saw that the wickedness of 
man was great in the earth, and that every imagina- 
tion of the thoughts of his heart was only evil con- 
tinually. And the Lord said, I will destroy man, 
whom I have created, from the face of the earth. But 
Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. And 
Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife, and his 
. sons' wives with him, into the ark, because of the 
waters- of the flood," and the rest were swept down by 
the foaming billows, and sank like lead in the mighty 
waters. Here it might have been supposed, that as 
the rebellious were cut off, and only the few favorites 
of heaven were preserved, that iniquity would have 
6 



82 



REDEMPTION AND SALVATION. 



been arrested and outwardly destroyed ; but still, the 
inward evil nature spread its devastating influence, 
until fire and brimstone were rained on the land of 
Sodom and Gomorrah for their awful abominations, 
and the smoke of the country ascended toward 
heaven. 

The whole history of the world proves that wick- 
edness was not confined to any special nation, kindred, 
tongue, or people, for all had sinned and come short 
of the glory of God. Paul declares, "They are all 
gone out of the way, they are together become un- 
profitable ; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. 
Their throat is an open sepulchre ; with their tongues 
have they used deceit ; the poison of asps is under 
their lips : whose mouth is full of cursing and bitter- 
ness : their feet are swift to shed blood : destruction 
and misery are in their ways : and the way of peace 
have they not known : there is no fear of God before 
their eyes." Here the pen of inspiration gives an 
awful account of the universal wickedness of Jews 
and Gentiles in the idolatrous ages of the world. Un- 
godliness, in those days of moral darkness, was not 
confined to the illiterate masses of mankind, upon 
whom the arts and sciences had never lavished their 
favors; for Egypt, the mistress of the nations, to 
which some of the greatest philosophers repaired to 
finish their education and to give a greater importance 
to their literary standing, amidst all the pomp and 
pride of her acquirements, evinced the greatness of 
her wickedness, and the superstitious nature of her 



REDEMPTION AND SALVATION. 



83 



idolatrous worship. Even in Pharaoh's court, where 
" Moses was learned in all the wisdom of Egypt/' the 
worship of the true God was totally neglected, and 
false gods were adored. Surely, the royal court, and 
the great statesmen and philosophers, ought to 
have known that four-footed beasts, winged song- 
sters, mighty forests, romantic landscapes, dew-decked 
lawns, blooming flowers, meandering streams, wide- 
spreading rivers, roaring oceans, twinkling stars, 
flaming orbs, and dead heroes, were not proper ob- 
jects of worship. But, alas, moral darkness had 
covered, to an awful extent, the whole Egyptian 
kingdom. 

Persia, too, famed for elegance and flushed with 
wealth, was so sunk in ignorance, as to worship two 
supreme gods, one as the author of evil, and the 
other as the author of good. Thus were opposite 
principles and fanciful beings substituted for the 
eternal Jehovah. And who has not heard of the 
glory of Greece and Eome, whose national, martial, 
and philosophic fame, has floated down the tide of 
centuries? Yes, a glory that blazed on the ensigns 
of majesty and the thrones of state ! Not like a 
meteor that darts a transient glare of magniflcen 
splendor across the azure canopy and then dies on the 
vision ; but a glory to which Cicero and Demosthenes 
owe the immortality of their eloquence, and in the 
effulgence of which great Homer soared and sung in 
the transcendent height of his poetic strain, which 
still sublimely sounds from the Temple of the Muses. 



84 



REDEMPTION AND SALVATION. 



And yet, in the broadest blaze of Grecian and Roman 
splendor, wickedness was not only tolerated, but in 
some' instances was established by law. Many of the 
orators, statesmen, and philosophers were paragons of 
pride and monuments of iniquity. Their augurs and 
oracles, soothsayers and astrologers, priests and sacri- 
fices, gods and goddesses, were all proofs of moral 
desolation, and fully established the Scripture declara- 
tion, "that the world by wisdom knew not God." 
But were not the Israelites, God's peculiar people, 
exceptions to this wide spread ruin ? No ! For Paul 
proves that both Jews and Gentiles were all under 
sin: "For all have sinned and come short of the 
glory of God." 

Though, through Divine grace, there were some 
honorable exceptions to the sweeping generality of 
Jewish and heathen wickedness, the testimony of the 
sacred writers was infallibly true, that the whole 
world was fallen from the image and favor of God. 
And notwithstanding the national and ecclesiastical 
privileges that the Jews enjoyed, and the blessings 
promised, they were, nevertheless, a rebellious and 
gainsaying people. They dug down consecrated 
altars, slew inspired prophets, violated moral laws, 
profaned holy Sabbaths, withheld tithes, and in some 
instances, worshipped false gods and sacrificed to 
devils; and to crown the climax of all their wicked- 
ness, they rejected and crucified the Son of God, 
crying, " his blood be on us, and on our children." 

3. It ivas a helpless world.. Not only helpless in 



REDEMPTION AND SALVATION. 85 

consequence of its deplorably fallen and sinful con- 
dition, but because the law of God afforded no pardon 
for its past violation, nor power for its future fulfil- 
ment. No effort of fallen man could have satisfied its 
outraged dignity, or obviated its awful penalty. 
Here every mouth was stopped, and the whole world 
stood guilty before God. None was found adequate 
to redeem his brother, or to offer at the shrine of sal- 
vation a sacrifice for his own soul. " Wherewith" 
sayeth a prophet, " shall I come before the Lord, and 
bow myself before the high God ? Shall I come 
before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year 
old? "Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of 
rams, or with ten thousand of rivers of oil ? Shall I 
give my first-born for my transgression, the fruit of 
my body for the sin of my soul?" Nay, verily, these 
would all be insufficient ; rivers of. oil, and seas of 
blood would flow in vain, and could be no atonement 
for sin, and would never purchase pardoning and 
purifying grace for a fallen, helpless, wicked world ; 
therefore the only help was found in God's eternal 
love to lost and ruined sinners, through Christ Jesus, 
who gave himself a ransom for all. 

II. FOR THIS WHOLE WORLD, IN REBELLION A.GAINST 
ITS RIGHTFUL SOVEREIGN, GOD GAVE HIS ONLY BE- 
GOTTEN Son. 

The corning of Messiah to our world, was a doctrine 
on which prophets and seers dwelt with delight. The 
patriarchs and J ews, to whom Jehovah specially revealed 



86 



EEDEMPTION AND SALVATION. 



himself, earnestly looked for a deliverer. His coming 
was foretold by vision and prophecy. Abraham saw 
his day and rejoiced in its coming glory. Jacob, 
approaching the waves of death's Jordan, spake of the 
heavenly Shiloh. Moses, the great lawgiver of Israel, 
exclaimed to the hosts that had escaped from Egyptian 
bondage : " The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee 
a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, 
like unto me ; unto him shall ye hearken." Isaiah, 
almost basking in the beams of gospel sunshine, 
cried out: "0 Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, 
lift up thy voice with strength ; lift it up, be not 
afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your 
God ! Behold, the Lord God will come with strong 
hand, and his arm shall rule for him : behold, his re- 
ward is with him, and his work before him. He shall 
feed his flock like a shepherd : he shall gather the 
lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom." 
Zechariah, verging still nearer to his coming, said in 
ecstasies of joy: "Kejoice greatly, O daughter of 
Zion ; shout, daughter of Jerusalem : behold, the 
King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salva- 
tion." Yea, all the prophets looked with joj-fal ex- 
pectation until his star was seen in the East, and the 
angel of the Lord announced him to the astonished 
shepherds, saying, " Behold I bring }^ou good tidings 
of great joy, which shall .be to all people. For unto 
you is born this day, in the city of David, a Saviour, 
which is Christ the Lord." In these and other pas- 
sages of sacred Scripture, we have Messiah s prophetic 



REDEMPTION AND SALVATION. 



87 



and actual advent to our world, and we can, therefore, 
triumphantly proclaim, in the language of the text, 
that " God so loved the world, that he gave his only 
begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should 
not perish, but have everlasting life." We now, with 
unflinching firmness, take our stand on the declaration 
of Paul, that : " God was manifest in the flesh, justi- 
fied in the spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the 
Gentiles, belived on in the world, received up into 
glory." 

There has been considerable controversy in the 
Christian world, concerning what has been denomi- 
nated " the eternal filiation of the son of God ;" and it ! 
is not my present design, according to the limited 
space I have here to occupy, to contribute too largely 
to that controverted subject. But as Jehovah Jesus 
occupies •such a gloriously conspicuous place in the 
sacred oracles, as Eedeemer, King, and Saviour, it is 
strictly proper to have, as far as possible, in all 
respects, correct views of him ; and as the Bible is the 
great repository of heaven-inspired theology, and as 
reason, under the influence of the Holy Ghost, is the 
expositor of its contents, it is our duty to bring all 
our theories to these long established standards. 
Though there is a mysteriousness surrounding eter- 
nal Deity that we cannot fully penetrate, we are, 
nevertheless, not required to believe any thing con- 
cerning the nature, existence, and works of God con- 
trary to reason. And while a divinely inspired 
doctrine may, in its utmost extent, be above our 



88 



KEDEMPTTON and salvation. 



comprehension, we are religiously bound to believe 
nothing concerning it that would contradict reason. 
On these principles, we can as logically proceed in the 
kingdom of grace, as in the kingdom of nature, and 
hold up error to the chastisement of public condemna- 
tion, and bid truth shine forth in all its brilliancy. 
And though some of the greatest theologians 
have held different views of the Sonship of Christ, 
among whom were John Wesley and Adam Clarke ; 
yet, while they all held to the essential doctrine of 
Grod manifested in human nature for the redemption 
of a lost and ruined world, they were considered suf- 
ficiently orthodox for all the purposes of present and 
eternal salvation. In corroborating the propriety of 
such an orthodox latitude, I shall, therefore, be con- 
sidered safe from the imputation of heresy, while I 
shall demonstrably prove the Unity and Trinity of 
Jehovah's existence in opposition to separation of 
essence, or eternal filiation of Sonship ; and with these 
preliminary remarks enter on the argument and dis- 
tinctly state, that there is no reasonable or proper 
sense in which an eternal nature could be generated. 
For though it is cheerfully admitted, and physiologi- 
cally believed, that a son partakes of the nature of his 
father, there is no positive rule of logical reasoning 
that would make a son equal in the duration of his 
personality to his father ; and this is an impassable 
barrier in the way of those who believe in "the 
eternal Sonship of Christ." For whatever may be 
said or published, we can philosophically maintain 



REDEMPTION AND SALVATION. 



89 



that a Son produced from the infinite essence, would 
exclude the eternity of his personality, because of the 
eternal priority of the Father, and also imply a 
change in the mode of the unoriginated existence 
which could never reasonable or Scripturally apply 
to the unchangeable Jehovah, who is " the same, 
yesterday, to-clay, and forever." And as the gene- 
rating act by which, it is said, the Son was produced 
from the infinite essence, was eternal, and as nothing 
could eternally exist but God, that would suppose 
that the generating act passed upon the Divine exist- 
ence, and from that, a Personality was produced, 
which, in the mode of the eternal existence, had no 
former actuality in the order of duration, and to 
which the Father, on that principle, must be con- 
sidered the eternal priority, and would therefore 
destroy the unoriginated sameness in the mode of the 
infinite existence, and the eternity of one of the Persons 
of infinite Godhead. For the idea of generating a per- 
son that always existed, would be a contradiction ; for 
if he always existed, as an eternal person, how could 
he be generated? Therefore, the adoption of the 
eternal Sonship of Christ confounds all logical reason- 
ing, and makes the doctrine of an eternal Person, 
" by eternal filiation," an ostensible absurdity. 

But it may be asserted that with Omnipotence all 
things are possible, and that Jehovah could from the 
infinite essence have produced a Son equal to himself, 
without that production involving any absurdity in 
the estimation of him, whose ways are beyond all 



90 



REDEMPTION AND SALVATION. 



comprehension, and whose wonderful works can only 
be fully known by himself, whose capacity is unboun- 
ded. Now this assertion can be easily confronted by 
the positive assurance that Omnipotence could never 
be exerted in performing contradictions, and it would 
be an absolute contradiction to affirm that Jehovah 
could produce from his own essence a Personality 
having all or a part of his essence, and still be individu- 
ally and indivisibly the same himself. And this will 
be further evident when I shall exhibit, in a threefold 
manner, the import of the hypothesis against which I 
am here contending, and plainly show that on the 
principles of such an eternal production as opponents 
hold, the Son must have all, or part, or none of the 
Divine essence. And as no art, mystery, or sophistry 
can exempt those of an opposite doctrine from admit- 
ting one or all of these views, therefore, by a fair ex- 
planation, the whole truth, in favor of my theory, 
may be ascertained. First, then : if on the principle 
of Christ's eternal Sonship he have all the essence, 
then we are brought to the absolute inconsistency that 
the entire Divine nature was generated, and that in 
that generation, Jehovah was both Father and Son, 
and as Father he gave the entire essence to the Son ; 
and at the same time, to be the infinite Grod, had to re- 
tain it all himself, both of which could not be possibly 
true. But secondly, if the Son have but a part of the 
infinite essence, then a separation of the indivisible 
essence was the consequence of the eternal generation, 
and each could have but a division of eternal Godhead, 



REDEMPTION' AND SALVATION. 



91 



which would suppose that the indivisible Jehovah 
was divisible, and would therefore be an argument 
that the true philosophy of his spiritual existence 
would annihilate. Any intelligent theologian, how- 
ever superficial in argument, might easily admit that 
the immateriality of the infinite Spirit forbids a belief 
in the possibility of a separation of the Divine essence, 
and therefore, on the ground of eternal generation, the 
Son must have all or none of the unoriginated essence ; 
and if he have all, then the Father can have none, ex- 
cept we absurdly believe that both can have all at the 
same time. Thirdly, if he have none of the Divine 
essence, and the generation is eternal, then we make 
him finite in his nature, and eternal in his Personality, 
which would be an impossibility ; for what consistent 
ideas could we have of a finite nature existing in Per- 
sonality from eternity ; or of a being that, according to 
this supposition, would seem both finite and infinite ; 
or might be as reasonably supposed neither finite nor 
infinite? for he who would be produced by eternal 
generation could not be absolutely finite, and he who 
had none of the Divine essence could not be infinite. 
We now find that an explanation of these three theo- 
ries of the eternal Sonship of the Divine nature of 
Christ involve the votaries of that unreasonable doc- 
trine in a theological dilemma, from whence they can- 
not be extricated but by a renunciation of their untena- ' 
ble theory, and by the adoption of those views that 
are consistent with reason and revelation. 

But if, to avoid the absurdity of eternal generation, 



92 



REDEMPTION AND SALVATION. 



eternally communicated be substituted, the grossness 
of the language will be greatly modified, but the ab- 
surdity will still remain. For to whom or to what 
could Jehovah make a communication of himself 
prior to creation, when nothing but eternal Divinity 
existed? If to himself, then the eternal Sonship 
would rest on the mere act by which Jehovah com- 
municated himself to himself, which indeed would be 
a very strange hypothesis on which to establish a 
theological doctrine. But if the communication was 
made foreign from himself, then it must have been 
made to nothing, for he alone inhabited eternit}^ ; so 
in whatsoever light the eternal Sonship is viewed, or 
in whatever sense it is advocated, it will not stand the 
test of logical discrimination. For if it imply no 
change in the nature and mode of the Divine existence, 
Jehovah is the same without it, and its advocacy is 
therefore extraneous ; but if it do imply a change in 
either, then Jehovah, on that changeful principle, can- 
not be the God of the Bible ; which, when fully under- 
stood, and fairly explained, will never prove that God 
in nature or Personality can be an eternal Son. Our 
theory and arguments therefore leave Jehovah in the 
unoriginated and eternal sameness of his inseparable 
identity as God over all and blessed forever more. 

And, now, the last and only ground on which with 
any show of plausibility the eternal Sonship can be 
advocated, is, that by an eternal efflux, the Son pro- 
ceeded from the Father as light from the solar orb, or 
as a stream from its fountain. But however plausible 



REDEMPTION AND SALVATION. 



93 



this might seem at first sight, it nevertheless destroys 
the eternal duration of the Son's Personality, by the 
priority of a cause from whence he is supposed to flow. 
And though if such an efflux existed it would be the 
same in nature as the source from whence it flowed, 
it could not be the same in the duration of Personality 
as the prior cause of its existence in a personal sense ; 
and in application to an eternal Son, would evidently 
imply, as a being eternally produced, the divisibility 
of the infinite essence, that cannot stand the test of 
Scriptural and logical inspection, and is therefore an 
unscriptural phantom of the imagination. And as all 
illustrations and figures of speech taken from material 
things must, in their own nature, be perfectly super- 
fluous in establishing the eternal filiation of the Son 
of God, we can philosophically assert, that whatever 
causes may operate or effects follow, none of them 
can show the possibility of an infinitely immaterial 
Son, proceeding or flowing from the inseparable essence 
of God the Father. And this last refuge, as all the 
other baseless theories that I have refuted, must be 
given up as entirely untenable, and obviously insuffi- 
cient to establish the eternal Sonship of God's Messiah ; 
and we must come to the generation or creation of hij 
human nature by that miraculous process recorded in 
the Gospel of Luke, in connection with eternal Divinity, 
as "God manifest in the flesh." This twofold union 
of Godhead and manhood sufficiently maintains the 
God-begotten nature of his humanity, and exalts, in 
all the purposes and plans of redemption and salva- 



94 REDEMPTION AND SALVATION. 

tion, the eternal Godhead, without having recourse to 
the doctrine of the eternal Sonship, which I have 
proven by fair arguments to be an unreasonable and 
false theory. And we therefore unanswerably main- 
tain that all comprised in Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, 
can be resolved into an infinite and indivisible Unity, 
acting in the capacity of an indescribable Trinity. 
Therefore, God as the Father, God as the Son, and God 
as the Holy Ghost, performs all his purposes in crea- 
tion, redemption, salvation, and endless glorification, 
in accordance with the eternal indivisibility of his un- 
changeable identity. On these inspired principles, 
we shall now proceed to speak of the glorious ends 
accomplished by the coming of the only begotten 
Son. 

1. He came to magnify the Law, and to make it 
honorable. The all- wise God looked along the range 
of everlasting ages and beheld all the bearings of sin 
on his administration, and saw that Messiah was the 
only proper person to accomplish our redemption ; and 
in the counsels of infinite wisdom, chose the best time 
for his incarnation. His way had to be prepared by 
vision and prophecy ; and in firm reliance on the 
promise of his coming, the church waited with earnest 
expectation for his appearance. The Roman empire, 
that had pushed her conquests to the ends of the earth, 
became satisfied, and sheathed the sword. The sur- 
rounding nations bowed to her authority, and Peace 
spread her olive branch over Rome's victorious armies. 
Amid this tranquillity from the clangor of war and 



REDEMPTION AND SALVATION. 



95 



clash of arms, Jehovah could then say to Zion : 
"Arise, shine ; for thy light is come, and the glory of 
the Lord is risen upon thee." And suddenly there 
appeared a multitude of the heavenly host, praising 
God, and saying, " Glory to God in the highest, and 
on earth peace, good will toward men : for unto you 
is born this day, in the city of David, a Saviour, 
which is Christ the Lord." And when his parents 
brought him to the temple, to fulfil all things accord- 
ing to the law of Moses, Simeon, to whom it was 
revealed by the Holy Ghost that he should not see 
death before he had seen the Lord's Christ, took him 
up in his arms, and blessed God, and said, "Lord, 
now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, accord- 
ing to thy word : for mine eyes have seen thy salva- 
tion." He came as a " light to the Gentiles, and for 
salvation to the ends of the earth." And as a part 
of the great work that he voluntarily engaged to per- 
form, he had to magnify the law, and make it honora- 
ble, by fulfilling its requirements. This was not only 
necessary as an example for our lives, but as a spot- 
less sacrifice for our sins. If he had violated the law 
in any instance, and to any extent, its authority would 
have been outraged, and the whole sacrificial system 
for salvation would have been ruined. But to its let- 
ter and spirit he fully conformed in all his proceed- 
ings. He knew no. sin, " neither was guile found in 
his mouth." Judas Iscariot, who sold him to the chief 
priests for thirty pieces of silver, repented of his wick- 
edness, and cast down the money in the temple, say- 



96 



REDEMPTION AND SALVATION. 



ing, "I have betrayed the innocent blood." Pilate, the 
governor, before whom he was arraigned, " took water, 
and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, 
I am innocent of the blood of this just person." Even 
an infernal spirit, awed by the majesty of his charac- 
ter, and his immaculate purity, exclaimed, " Thou art 
the Holy One of God." And Jehovah, the Father, in 
an audible voice from heaven, said, " This is my be- 
loved Son, in whom I am well pleased." But his 
obedience to law, so necessary to his atonement as 
our Eedeemer, has been erroneously substituted, by 
many, for their obedience to the moral law ; and, by a 
supposed imputation, many have fancied that ail their 
legal deformities were covered, and their salvation 
absolutely secured, by his abstract righteousness, with- 
out its application in our experimental righteousness 
and personal holiness. But, in direct opposition to 
this unscriptural view, we maintain, that instead of 
the covenant of grace in Christ Jesus implying a 
righteousness in Christ that supersedes our experi- 
mental and practical righteousness, gospel salvation is 
designed to bring us up to law and righteousness, by 
a change of our moral nature, and the indwelling 
power of the Holy Grhost; and Paul says, "Sin shall 
not have dominion over you : for ye are not under the 
law, buj; under grace ;" and therefore grace was to 
enable believers in Christ Jesus to maintain a tri- 
umphant ascendency over sin. Christ himself, who 
knew the design, extent, and soul-saving application 
of his own meritorious righteousness, strictly enjoined 



REDEMPTION AND SALVATION. 



97 



the fulfilment of the law, as a rule of moral action, 
where he said, " If thou wilt enter into life, keep the 
commandments." And this is the practical test by 
which he wishes us to judge his followers, for he says, 
" By their fruits ye shall know them. Not every one 
that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the 
kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of 
my Father which is in heaven." The apostle Paul, 
who defended the priesthood and atonement of Christ 
against all opposition, never understood that either 
his obedience or sufferings superseded the necessity 
of our experimental and practical holiness. For he 
said to Titus, " I will that thou affirm constantly, that 
they which have believed in God might be careful to 
maintain good works." And to the Eomans he pro- 
pounded the question, " Do we then make void the 
law through faith ?" and then exclaimed: "God for- 
bid ; yea, we establish the law." And St. John crowns 
the climax of all our moral obligations in this world 
by declaring, " Blessed are they that do his command- 
ments, that they may have right to the tree of life, 
and may enter in through the gates into the city." 
Here, then, we are confidently assured, that whatever 
may be the import of the holiness of Christ's life, or 
the sacrifice of his death, we can only be prepared for 
glory, honor, and immortality at God's right hand in 
heaven, through the exercise of faith in his atone- 
ment, bringing Divine grace to purify our fallen 
nature, and to enable us to act up to law and 
righteousness, as obedient subjects of God's moral 



98 



REDEMPTION AXD SALVATIOX. 



government. Having sufficiently refuted the fallacy 
of unscripturally relying on Christ's obedience to the 
law as a substitute for our righteousness, we shall also 
expose the erroneousness of those who affirm that he 
fulfilled the law for himself. 

There is a vast difference between 'Christ's obedi- 
ence to the law, as our Kedeemer, for the accomplish- 
ment of present and eternal salvation, and fulfilling 
it for himself, as a probationer or accountable being ; 
and we should wisely discriminate between what 
would make him a mere subject of the Divine ad- 
ministration, and that which actually distinguishes 
him as our Euler and meritorious Saviour. There is 
no sense in which it can be fairly maintained that 
he kept the law merely for himself, for that would 
bring down the legal proceedings of our great Master 
to the level of human agents for whom he was acting 
in all his soul^aving offices. For though, " when the 
fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, 
made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem 
them that were under the law, that we might receive 
the adoption of sons," we must not suppose that this, 
or any other passage of Scripture, proves that in any 
abstract sense he acted for himself. Even this text, 
which is the strongest one that an opponent could 
bring in opposition to my argument, absolutely shows 
that he was not acting, in any legal sense, for himself, 
but that we might receive the adoption of sons. His 
mission to this world was for us ; his fulfilment of 
the law, and death on the cross, were sacrificial for 



REDEMPTION AND SALVATION. 



99 



our salvation. And though, from the innate purity 
of his immaculate nature, he fulfilled all righteous- 
ness, if it had not been for our redemption, God would 
not have been manifested in human nature. His in- 
carnation, life, death, resurrection, ascension, and in- 
tercession, were all meritorious in our salvation. 
And if it be admitted that his incarnation and death 
were essential to the atonement, then, on what principle 
can it be asserted that the interval between the manger 
and the cross was filled up in acts of obedience for him- 
self and not for us ? He had a special work to perform 
in his errand to our world ; and his proceedings were 
not to be subjected to human contingencies, like a 
probationary intelligence. He foresaw the whole work 
that he had to do as our Eedeemer and Saviour; and 
nothing, in time or eternity, could make him in the 
least deviate from what he undertook to accomplish. 
And notwithstanding the great transaction on Calvary 
was the most conspicuous part of the whole expe- 
dition, there were, nevertheless, other proceedings, 
without which the atonement would not have been 
complete, either in fact. or in prophecy, and therefore 
he could triumphantly say to his Almighty Father, 
" I have glorified thee on the earth : I have finished 
the work which thou gavest me to do." 

If any of us are afraid to admit that he obeyed the 
law for us, lest we should thereby be exonerated from 
obeying it for ourselves, on the same procedure we 
should be afraid to allow that he died for us, lest we 
would be exempted from dying ourselves. If, then, 



100 KEDEMPTION AND SALVATION. 



the sacrifice of his death does not exempt us from 
temporal death, the righteousness of his life cannot 
exempt us from obedience to law. We contend that 
the obedience of Christ in human nature, was, in its 
degree, as meritorious in our salvation as his suffer- 
ings on the cross, which it could not have been if he 
had fulfilled the law for himself. And on these prin- 
ciples we can declare, with a prophet, that "this is his 
name whereby he shall be called, the Lord our 
Righteousness " and with Paul can affirm, that he was 
made of God " unto us, wisdom, and righteousness, 
and sanctification, and redemption." He being our 
righteousness in law, and our propitiation by sacrifice, 
we can joyfully exclaim, that "The Lord is well 
pleased for his righteousness' sake," as proclaimed by 
the prophet Isaiah, who said, " He will magnify the 
law and make it honorable." And with St. John we 
can "testify that the Father sent the Son to be the 
Saviour of the world;" and also with the apostle 
Peter, that we were not redeemed with corruptible 
things, as silver and gold, "but with the precious 
blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and 
without spot ; who verily was foreordained before the 
foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last 
times," and hath " suffered for sins, the just for the 
unjust, that he might bring us to God." 

2. He came to die for our sins. The death of Christ; 
as a sacrifice for sin, is so incontestably established in 
the sacred oracles, and has maintained such a glorious 
ascendency in the world, that we can now, in joyful 



REDEMPTION AND SALVATION. 



101 



hope of the still further triumphs of the cross, exclaim : 
"Surely he hath borne our griefs and carried our sor- 
rows : yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, 
and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgres- 
sions, he was bruised for our iniquities : the chastise- 
ment of our peace was upon him ; and with his stripes 
we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray ; 
we have turned every one to his own way ; and the 
Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all." Here 
Divine inspiration has made the doctrine of redemp- 
tion through the sacrifice of Christ so plain, that a 
man's understanding must be awfully perverted by 
error, when, with the Bible in his hand, he can rise 
up against this soul-saving doctrine of our holy reli- 
gion. And while taking our stand with unflinching 
firmness upon the fact that Jehovah Jesus " is the pro- 
pitiation for our sins : and not for ours only, but also 
for the sins of the whole world," we are led to the 
mournful scenes of Calvary, and to the bloody tragedy 
of Golgotha, where the rending rocks, the trembling 
earth, and the opening graves proclaimed with the 
centurion, and those who were with him : " Truly this 
was the Son of God." -The agonies inflicted by the 
soldiers — the spear, the hammer, and the nails — were 
awfully excruciating ; but that he bore our sins in his 
own body on the tree, transcends all description. We 
may mournfully relate the circumstances, and shed a 
tear in remembrance of the sufferer ; but he alone could 
tell what was implied in bearing the whole weight of 
a world's atonement. In that eventful hour, fraught 



102 



REDEMPTION AND SALVATION. 



with the destinies of the universe, he grappled with 
principalities and powers/ until hell's dark monarch 
was vanquished, and the whole human family was re- 
deemed by a spotless, pure, and all — sufficient sacrifice 
offered on the altar of eternal Divinity. Then inflexi- 
ble justice, clothed in the garments of vengeance, and 
crying for the blood of transgressors, looked on the 
cross and was satisfied. Not satisfied, as some 
erroneously think, by Jehovah accepting the sufferings 
of his Son as the whole penalty of violated law for all 
transgressors for whom he died, so that justice, inde- 
pendent of all other considerations, would be absolutely 
bound to eternally save them. The doctrine of salva- 
tion by Christ suffering the whole penalty of violated 
law is, as we shall show, a false and dangerous one, 
though some preach it as the ground of salvation here, 
and eternal glory hereafter. Now, in obviation of this 
unscriptural theory, we maintain that the argument 
of penal salvation by Christ, is precisely the same in 
substance, whether, with rigid Calvinists, we affirm 
that Christ bore the penalty only for those that they 
denominate the elect ; or, with Arminians, that he bore 
it for all, because he died for all ; and the same logical 
truth which will refute it in the first instance, will 
also in the second. The most of divines make the 
penalty annexed to transgression to consist in tempo- 
ral, spiritual, and eternal death ; but as all do not in- 
clude in their theory the whole three, we will give 
them a separate explanation, and prove that our 
Saviour never suffered death in any sense whatever, 



REDEMPTION AND SALVATION. 



103 



as the whole penalty of sin, so that sinners on that 
penal principle might be freed from everlasting punish- 
ment without repentance, faith, and holiness. And 
when we shall have established this, then the fanciful 
fabric of salvation by penalty will fall, like the tower 
of Babel, in ruins around them. And though we 
freely admit, and undisguisedly assert, that Christ suf- 
fered temporal death, as a sacrifice for the sins of the 
world, to open up a new and living way of reconcilia- 
tion to God the Father, on the strictest principles of 
justice, mercy, and good government, yet we can 
never admit that he suffered that death as the entire 
penalty of transgression ; for if he did, then eternal 
justice could not demand our death as. a penal conse- 
quence of sin, for that would be requiring double 
satisfaction, which would be more than the rectitude 
of the Divine government could require, as we shall 
now show. 

First, then, Christ could not and did not endure 
temporal -death as the whole penal consequence of sin, 
for that would be untenable while we scripturally 
considered our own death a penal consequence of 
transgression. God said to Adam, in Paradise : " Of 
every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat ; but 
of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou 
shalt not eat of it : for in the day that thou eatest 
thereof thou shalt surely die." And after his trans- 
gression, the penal consequence sounded in his ears, 
in Jehovah's own words, " For dust thou art, and unto 
dust shalt thou return." Paul assures us that death 



104 



KEDEMPTION AND SALVATION. 



came "by sin, and so death passed upon all men ; for 
all have sinned." In these passages ; we have death 
clearly exhibited as a penal consequence of sin ; and 
as the elect, or true believers in Christ, must die as 
others do, and thus bear this part of their own penalty, 
it would be a contradiction of their own mortality, 
and a perversion of Scripture truth, to assert that 
Christ bore the whole penalty of death for them, when 
they had to die themselves. 

Secondly. *He could not die a spiritual death to bear 
the penalty of our sins. Spiritual death is an extinc- 
tion or abstraction of spiritual life, and could only be 
effected by wilful transgression ; but Christ " did no 
sin, neither was guile found in his mouth," and there- 
fore, from the holiness of his nature, and the right- 
eousness of his life, he never could die a spiritual 
death. He was the Holy One of God, the beloved 
Son, in whom the Father was well pleased. "We are, 
by these facts, prevented from adopting any theory 
that would require for our salvation the spiritual 
death of the great Apostle and High Priest of our 
profession. 

Thirdly. He could not suffer the penalty of eternal 
death. For eternal death is eternal damnation. The 
advocates of penal salvation, will, perhaps, start back 
with horror at the apprehension of tbat expiation 
that would, on the penal principle, imply the damna- 
tion of their Saviour ; but they ought to start back 
with equal horror from the premises that would lead 
to such a conclusion. They ought to boldly deny that 



KEDEMPTION AND SALVATION. 



105 



salvation here or hereafter has been secured on such 
untenable principles by the great Saviour. For if the 
penalty of sin be temporal, spiritual, and eternal death, 
and Christ bore the whole, he must therefore have 
died temporally, spiritually, and eternally. And as 
eternal death is eternal banishment from the presence 
of God, and from the glory of his power, that would 
suppose that Christ was now in hell, bearing the pen- 
alty of violated law, and would imply the contradiction, 
that instead of him having borne the whole penalty 
for sinners, he was still bearing it proportionately; 
and as eternal death has no termination, so on the 
principles of penal salvation, that I now oppose, Christ, 
as our surety, would have to be everlastingly damned 
as a ransom for our souls. 

But some, in endeavoring to avoid that absurdity, 
and to still maintain salvation by Christ suffering the 
whole penalty, may assert, that in his infinite capacity 
he suffered as much on the cross as the elect or all 
mankind could suffer through eternal age«, and there- 
fore we need not refer to either spiritual or eternal 
death to support penal salvation, since it can be other- 
wise established by our Saviour's sufferings. Now 
however specious this notion may be in its appearance, 
or mild in its aspect, it is nevertheless as fallacious as 
the former ones, for no infinite capacity could suffer 
on the cross or anywhere else, except the eternal God 
himself suffered ; but in opposition to this we maintain 
that the nature of his perfections, and the unchangeable 
felicity of his unoriginated existence, forbid the idea 



106 



REDEMPTION AND SALVATION. 



that as an infinite Spirit he either suffered or died as 
a sin offering. The soul and body of man are so inti- 
mately connected that both sympathize and suffer to- 
gether as comprising or making one human existence ; 
but it is otherwise with God, whose Divinity is as 
eternally distinct and perfect in himself, abstract from 
human nature, as if that had never existed ; and the 
indwelling of the eternal Jehovah in the human nature 
of Christ, for the purposes of redemption and salvation, 
would not prove that because humanity suffered, as 
upheld by Omnipotence, Divinity must also suffer in 
making an atonement at the shrine of justice and 
mercy. If, then, the infinite essence could not suffer, 
the human nature only must have suffered; and as 
that was finite, and could not be infinite in its capac- 
ity, so humanity on the cross, though upheld by 
Divinity, could not suffer as much as all mankind 
would have had to endure if no atonement had been 
made. No limited duration of misery bears any de- 
finable proportion to the sufferings of endless ages ; 
and thus the most excruciating torments of the most 
enlarged finite capacity, in time, would be more than 
counterbalanced by the sufferings of all mankind 
through a miserable eternity ; and therefore salvation 
by penal sufferings, according to this theory, as in the 
others, must be relinquished as untenable. 

The next and only ground on which, with any seem- 
ing plausibility, the scheme of salvation by penal 
endurance can be advocated is, that though the nature 
that suffered for sin was finite, yet that nature being 



REDEMPTION AND SALVATION. 



107 



upheld by the infinite God, the penal sufferings may 
be considered an infinite equivalent for the salvation 
of all for whom the sacrifice was offered to eternal 
justice, without any other consideration being essen- 
tial to their endless glorification. It is, however, 
ruinous to this view of salvation, that it implies no 
forgiveness of sins, no change of heart by the power 
of the Holy Spirit, no intercession of Christ in heaven, 
and absolutely runs its votaries into predestination 
and unconditional election, on the one hand, for a chosen 
few, or into universal salvation for all mankind on the 
other hand. "We contend that such theological views, 
however seriously believed, or ably advocated, can 
never be made to comport with the plan of salvation 
contained in the Bible, where both justice and mercy 
meet in the Person of the great Mediator. And though 
we affirm that Jehovah's boundless love, and the union 
of the Godhead and manhood in the atoning sacrifice 
required by the Divine plan of redemption and salva- 
tion, contain everlasting efficacy for the salvation of 
all mankind, on the principles by which Jehovah say- 
eth : " Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of 
the earth ; for I am God, and there is none else," we 
nevertheless assert that the infinite merit of a penal 
equivalent for salvation is quite another thing, and 
implies some of the absurdities found in the other 
theories, that we have just refuted by Scripture and 
reason. We can now emphatically declare, that this 
last refuge to which many of the advocates of penal 
salvation fly, is found to be deplorably defective. For 



108 REDEMPTION AND SALVATION. 



it is one of God's perfections to see all things exactly 
as they are, and can therefore never ascribe to any 
thing more than it actually possesses. And as a finite 
humanity, however upheld by Divinity, would be 
finite still, so, Jehovah can never attach penal infinity 
to those sufferings which in their own nature must be 
finite, nor receive them as an infinite penalty for all 
the violations of moral law for which human beings 
would otherwise be held accountable. Paul, with a 
heaven-inspired knowledge of the boundless goodness 
of (rod, and of the true nature of the atonement of 
Christ, assures us that we are saved by grace through 
faith, and that not of ourselves, but it is the gift of 
God ; and it is plainly obvious, that if our salvation 
depends on the fall amount of sufferings at the shrine 
of legal justice without mercy, then it would not be 
by grace, as a free gift, but by an inexorable exaction 
of the whole amount of the penalty, implying at the 
same time an equivalent of suffering equal to eternal 
damnation, and also the infinite efficacy of endless 
salvation in their eternally opposite extremes of salva- 
tion by penalty and salvation by grace in the Person 
of Jesus Christ. Now these would be absurdities for 
which true Christianity, as revealed in the sacred 
oracles, can never be made accountable, and must 
therefore rest on a false foundation, as our arguments 
have fairly proven in favor of truth and righteousness. 

The great Calvin held a harsh and horrible opinion 
of the atonement of Christ, and plainly evinces how 
the mind of a sincere and prominent theologian was 



REDEMPTION AND SALVATION. 



109 



perverted, by erroneous views concerning a most 
glorious subject of theology. He says that: " If Christ 

* had merely died a corporeal death, no end would have 
been accomplished by it ; it was requisite, also, that he 
should feel the severity of the Divine vengeance, in 
order to appease the wrath of God, and satisfy bis jus- 
tice. Hence it was necessary for him to contend with 
the powers of hell, and the horrors of eternal death. 
He was made a substitute and surety for transgressors, 
and even treated as a criminal himself, to sustain all 
the punishments which would have been inflicted on 
them. Therefore it is no wonder if he be said to have 
descended into hell, since he suffered that death which 
the wrath of God inflicts on transgressors. The rela- 
tion of those sufferings of Christ which were visible 
to men, is properly followed by that invisible and in- 
comprehensible vengeance which he suffered from the 

■ hand of God, in order to assure us, that not only the 
body of Christ was given as the price of our redemp- 
tion, but that there was another great and more ex- 
cellent ransom, since he suffered in his soul the dread- 
ful torments of a person condemned and irretrievably 
lost." This extract contains some awfully false 
doctrines ; and though they were published by one of 
the greatest men that lived in the time of the glorious 
Eeformation, and while we make some allowance for 
the dark age in which Calvin lived, yet who, at this 
period of light and truth, can seriously believe that 
our blessed and Holy Eedeemer suffered the full 
penalty of eternal damnation for sinners, or " endured 



110 



REDEMPTION 



AND SALTATION. 



the dreadful torments of a person condemned and 
irretrievably lost?" Now if such an atonement was 
made for all mankind, then, on the ground of a legal 
universalism, all must be saved, whatever their moral 
standing may be, relative to good or evil proceedings. 
On these principles their whole eternity of salvation 
would be secured without the Father either pardon- 
ing transgressors or remitting through mercy the 
least amount of punishment. For there can be no 
gift of pardon where the full amount is paid, and no 
remitting of punishment when the whole penalty is 
endured ; and therefore the penal theory of salvation 
contradicts those passages of the Bible, which incon- 
testably prove that God " pardoneth iniquity, trans- 
gression, and sin," and that Christ "became the 
author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey 
him." And now, having, to a sufficient extent, opposed 
false and God-dishonoring views of the atonement, 
we shall also describe its true character in manifest- 
ins: the exceeding: sinfulness of sin, and in maintain- ' 
ing the strictness of Divine justice in harmony with 
all the infinite attributes, on the immutable principles 
of good government, in securing the eternal salvation 
of all the experimentally and practically righteous, 
through faith in the atoning sacrifice and the power 
of the Holy Ghost. 

In the sufferings of Christ, we behold " the good- 
ness and severity of God." And to the sacrifice of 
Calvary, intelligent worlds may look with astonish- 
ment ; and while admiring the transcendent glory of 



REDEMPTION AND SALVATION. 



Ill 



Divine love, let them bow before that justice which 
required for the salvation of sinners the death of the 
only begotten Son of God. On G-olgotha's high altar, 
the rectitude of Jehovah's administration was fully 
vindicated, heaven's eternal throne was propitiated, 
and the principles of salvation were gloriously mani- 
fested. The cross affords the strongest plea that God 
himself can urge, in relation to his own goodness, to in- 
duce sinners to forsake their sins ; for " he who spared 
not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how 
shall he not, with him, also freely give us all things." 
In this atonement, the uncompromising dignity of law 
is inflexibly supported, and the proper ground on 
which pardon can be offered is fully exhibited. And 
if a penitent sinner shall escape the vengeance due to 
a just reward of his deeds, it will not be because of 
any merit in himself, or partiality in his maker, but 
because, through the influence of the Holy Ghost, he 
takes refuge in the atonement, and obtains grace to 
enable him to walk in righteousness and true holiness. 
According to this arrangement, Paul exclaimed : 
" Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus 
Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual bless- 
ings in heavenly places in Christ: according. as he 
hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the 
world, that we should be holy and without blame be- 
fore him in love. Having predestinated us unto the 
adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, ac- 
cording to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise 
of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us 



112 KEDEMPTION AND SALVATION 

acceptable in the beloved : in whom we have redemp- 
tion through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, accord- 
ing to the riches of his grace." Here the glory of 
Divine grace, the atonement of Christ, the forgiveness 
of sins, and the personal holiness of believers, are all. 
intimately connected in the scheme of gospel salva- 
tion. The atonement for which we contend does not 
counteract justice, but sufficiently satisfies it, so as to 
leave room for the exercise of mercy. But the plan 
that we oppose isolates justice from the other per- 
fections of infinite Deity, and satisfies its demands by 
a terrible infliction of the whole penalty of sin upon 
our Saviour, so as to supersede the mercy of Grod, the 
forgiveness of sins, and the intercession of Christ ; 
and to crown the climax of this theological absurdity, 
it would save sinners from hell by an assurance that 
the whole penalty of damnation was suffered for them 
by the atoning Saviour. On this ground, there would 
be no necessity for Christ's intercession in heaven, ex- 
cept we hold that our Mediator is pleading with the 
Father to give what it would be unjust for him to 
withhold when all demands were satisfied. It would 
also supersede the absolute necessity of personal holi- 
ness ; for if all is eternally settled on penal principles, 
our proceeding in good or evil could not change the 
nature of that justice that is fully satisfied in the 
atonement that is made, and the real nature of which 
must be unchangeably valid, according to such a 
scriptural import. And, true to this theological de- 
lusion, some have asserted, that, though God should 



EEDEMPTION AND SALVATION. 113 

see us all weakness and folly, all sin and misery, }^et 
in Christ he sees us pure and spotless, as his elect 
children here, and heirs of eternal glory hereafter. 
By this doctrine, a door is opened for all manner of 
wickedness. For many, when favorable opportunities 
to vice would offer, and appetites and passions 
powerfully prompt to a dereliction of duty, or to a 
commission of crime, would not feel themselves bound 
by a law, the fulfilment or violation of which would 
neither contribute to nor detract from their salvation 
or damnation. Practicing on these principles, thou- 
sands are travelling on the broad road that leads to 
destruction, while they are calculating on the 'crowns 
and thrones of glory, honor, and immortality at God's 
right hand in heaven. But notwithstanding the false 
theories on which many practice, the counsel of the 
Lord shall stand ; and he who will not repent, believe, 
and obey, can be as consistently and everlastingly 
damned as if Christ had never died for the sins of 
the world. For, u He that believeth on the Son, hath 
everlasting life : and he that believeth not the Son, 
shall not see life ; but the wrath of God abideth on 
him." 

3. He came to be the resurrection and the life from the 
slumbers of the grave. His resurrection, which is 
divinely authenticated, is one of the most essential 
steps in all his proceedings. Through that resurrec- 
tion there are glorious prophecies and promises ful- 
filled ; and a Divine seal is thereby set upon his 
mission to our world. When he broke the bars of death 
8 



114 



REDEMPTION AXD SALVATION. 



and rose from the rock-bound tomb of Joseph, he 
triumphed over the principalities and powers of hell, 
making an open show of them as he dragged them at 
his chariot wheels. Then the thunder-scathed mon- 
arch of darkness and damnation, shrank from the 
mighty contest with the risen Jesus, that soon would 
have ensued, if a hellish effrontery had led him to 
compete with him, who had all power in heaven and 
earth ; and who would then have acted differently 
from the time of his humiliation in the wilderness, 
when, in the mild form of calm resistance, he over- 
came all his infernal machinations, and in firm ad- 
herence to the throne of his Father, proceeded on 
principles that would dethrone Death and vanquish 
the hosts of hell. And having finished his earthly 
career, and being "the first fruits of them that slept," 
he was then fully prepared to assume the ensigns of 
eternal royalty, as the King of Zion, and to carry his 
humanity in triumph to the highest throne of the 
eternal realm, where, hailed by angelic armies and 
myriads of redeemed saints, he would look down on 
the Church, purchased with his own blood, and send, 
through the Holy Grhost, a tide of salvation that would 
make Beelzebub confess, in the deepest caverns of eter- 
nal woe, that no infernal rule, or might, or authority, 
could successfully contend against those that make 
God their refuge and feel underneath them the ever- 
lasting arms. Now, the whole sacramental host can 
rejoice that Jesus is the resurrection and the life ; and 
that the days are rolling rapidly on, when all who are 



REDEMPTION AND SALVATION. 115 

in their graves shall hear his voice and come forth 
into immortal action. " Then shall the righteous 
shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their 
Father," and flesh and spirit, in one glorified union, 
shall go down the range of everlasting ages with the 
great Author and finisher of their faith, according to 
9 those God-originated principles that shall roll around 
with the wheel of eternity. 

Let infidels, who deny the resurrection of the dead, 
wait until the ensigns of Christ's majesty shall be seen 
upon the heavens, and when he shall come with a 
• heavenly jurisprudence to judge the world ; and then, 
scoffers who said, " Where is the promise of his com- 
ing?" shall be fully convinced that his humanity is 
not slumbering with the clods of the valley of death, 
but has triumphed over the grave, and ever liveth to 
make intercession for us, and to prepare our place in 
the heaven of heavens. 0, how transporting is the 
sound of eternal salvation, through a once crucified 
but now arisen and an eternally exalted Eedeemer ! 
Though Death has driven his pale horse and fearful 
chariot with awful rapidity, and sweeps off the fairest 
families, and relentlessly severs the fondest ties that 
bind mortals on earth, nevertheless, in possession of 
his proudest triumphs, he shall at last fall, amidst his 
own ravages, and be destroyed by one of his own vic- 
tims. The Son of God, who for our sakes bowed in 
submission to his terrible ascendency, shall swallow 
him up in victory. "Then shall be brought to pass 
the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in 



116 



REDEMPTION AND SALVATION. 



victory. 0, death, where is thy sting? 0, grave, 
where is thy victory ? The sting of death is sin ; and 
the strength of sin is the law. But, thanks be to God 
which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus 
Christ." 

III. That this wide and wondrous display 

OF EVEELASTING LOVE WAS MADE, THAT WHOSOEVER 
BELIEVETH IN THE SON OF GOD SHOULD NOT PERISH, 
BUT HAVE EVERLASTING LIFE. 

Therefore, he sayeth : a My sheep hear my voice, 
and I know them, and they follow me : and I give 
unto them eternal life ; and they shall never perish, 
neither shall any man pluck; them out of my hand. 
My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all ; 
and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's 
hand. I and my Father are one." Faith is the great 
instrumentality in bringing sinners from darkness to 
light, and from the power of Satan to God. Christ 
said to the unbelieving Jews: "Except ye believe in 
me ye shall die in your sins." Paul and Silas urged 
the trembling jailer, who was awakened to a sense of 
his danger, to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for 
salvation. Faith is a voluntary exercise of the hu- 
man mind, in reliance on Christ for salvation, accord- 
ing to the evidence by which he is exhibited to us in 
the Bible as our Saviour. This fact is evident from 
his commission to the disciples, where he says : " Go 
ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every 
creature. He that belie veth and is baptized, shall be 



REDEMPTION AND SALVATION. 



117 



saved; but he that believeth not, shall be damned." 
This faith for salvation implies three things. First, 
a true sense of our lost and undone state by nature 
and transgression. For if a sinner does not see him- 
self lost and ruined "without a soul-saving interest in 
Christ, he will not come unto him for salvation. 
Secondly, it must arise from sincere repentance unto 
life, that needeth not to be repented of; and therefore 
implies a heart-felt sorrow for sin, and an earnest de- 
sire to obtain pardon. And though sinners have no 
power of themselves to enable them to evangelically 
repent of their sins, as a preparatory process for the 
reception of converting grace, Jesus Christ is exalted, 
"A prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to 
Israel, and forgiveness of sins;" and Jehovah saith, 
" Let the wicked forsake his ways, and the unrighteous 
man his thoughts: and let him return, unto the Lord, 
and he will have mercy upon him ; and to our God, 
for he will abundantly pardon." Through this process 
the returning sinner is placed in a situation in which 
he can believe with the heart unto righteousness, and 
obtain justifying faith in Christ Jesus. Thirdly, this 
soul-saving faith arises from the influence of the Holy 
Spirit. Paul declares that faith is of the operation of 
the Spirit of God, and that " no man can say that Jesus 
is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost." Through his 
influence penitent sinners are enabled to believe with 
all the power of an endless life. Since Jesus Christ 
has opened up a new and living way to heaven, 
millions have gone to that blest abode, with songs and 



118 



REDEMPTION AND SALVATION. 



everlasting joy ; and in the succession of ages, myriads, 
through the merits of the Saviour, the influence of 
the Spirit, and the instrumentality of faith, shall as- 
cend in the chariot of the skies to the everlasting rest 
that remaineth for all the people of God. On the 
pathway to glory, Messiah triumphantly proceeded to 
fulfil the promise he made to his disciples to send the 
Spirit of Truth to abide with them forever. And 
faithful to this promise, " when the day of Pentecost 
was fully come, they were all with one accord in one 
place. And suddenly there came a sound from 
heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled 
all the house where they were sitting. And there 
appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and 
it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled 
with the Holy Ghost." But the indwelling of this 
blessed Spirit was not to be confined to the disciples 
whom Christ sent forth to preach the gospel, but was 
to be the privilege of all mankind, in effecting sal- 
vation through faith in the atoning sacrifice of Cal- 
vary. The triumphs of righteousness are not to be 
ascribed to human might, zeal, or eloquence, but to 
the outpouring of the Divine Spirit. Under this 
sacred influence, Jehovah is now urging on the whole 
church of true believers to the rewards of eternal 
victory. In the accomplishment of his glorious pur- 
poses, national, moral, and religious enterprises shall 
go. forth, until "all the ends of the earth shall see the 
salvation of our God." And when, in the roll of 
ages, the great scheme of gospel Christianity shall 



REDEMPTION AND SALVATION. 



119 



Lave fulfilled its glorious mission on earth, then Je- 
hovah shall transmit his faithful followers to eternal 
life in heaven. " For God so loved the world, that he 
gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth 
in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." 
This will be a life unbounded in its fulness, that will 
flow from the unfailing source of eternal Deity, with 
increasing delight, beyond all description. It will be 
a life transporting in its influence, causing unspeaka- 
ble joy, arising from the emanations of Divine love, 
enlarging the capacity, and filling the soul with un- 
utterable ecstasies amidst the transcendent scenes that 
shall open in panoramic beauty around the great cen- 
tral world of immensity, where stars, and suns, and 
systems, revolve in unmeasured space, in numbers 
without number, to the glory of the great Architect 
of Nature, who combines the whole aggregate in one 
wide and wondrous administration, and can still roll 
millions more from his creative hand, for the con- 
templation of his saints and the enlargement of his 
kingdom. But it will also be a life, eternal in its 
duration. The indestructible nature of the glorified 
spirit, the promised rewards of endless blessedness, 
and the eternity of God's existence and unchangeable 
perfections, will be perpetual evidence that our life 
will be endless in its duration, and therefore flow on 
with the eternity of him, who is God over all, and 
blessed for evermore. 



SERMON IY. 

THE 

EXISTENCE, ORIGIN, 

AND 

ATTEIBUTES OF THE SOUL, 

IN CONTRAST WITH GAINING THE WHOLE WORLD, AND LOSING ' 
ITS SALVATION. 



" For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole 
world, and lose his own soul ?" — Mark viii. 36. 

Moses, in the history of creation, assures ns that "the 
Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and 
breathed into his nostrils the breath of life ; and man 
became a living soul." And "God created man in his 
own image, in the image of God created he him ; male 
and female created he them. And God blessed them, 
and God said unto them, Be fruitful and multiply, and 
replenish the earth, and subdue it : and have dominion 
over the fish of the sea and over the fowl of the air, 
and over every living thing that moveth upon the 
earth." Then Adam and Eve, as subjects of God's 
moral government, were capable of enjoying the most 
substantial felicity. But in possession of all the glory 
(120) 



AND ATTRIBUTES OF THE SOUL. 



121 



and happiness of Eden's magnificence; they yielded to 
temptation, and involved themselves and all mankind 
in the ruins of a fallen, sinful nature. In this deplor- 
able situation, Jehovah, moved in compassion toward 
them, and in the fulness of time, sent his Son to be a 
propitiation for them. And knowing the proneness 
of the human family to substitute the things of time 
for the treasures of eternity, he propounded the im- 
portant question of the text ; in explanation of which 
I shall, by Divine assistance, describe, in the first 
place, man's immortal soul; and secondly, the profit 
arising from the whole world, in contrast with the loss 
of the soul. 

I. Describe the Soul. 

1. Its Existence. Some have denied the immaterial- 
ity of the soul, and have asserted that the whole human 
existence is an organization of refined matter. But 
this may be easily refuted by Reason and Scripture ; 
for as man is an active being, his operations must be 
performed by some power inherent in himself or 
foreign from him. If, then, he is destitute of an im- 
material spirit, and is actuated by some inward power, 
that power, or life, or whatever else it may be de- 
nominated, must be material ; for matter and spirit 
are the only two substances known to exist ; and all 
things must be resolved into these ; and according to 
the first idea, all man's actions would be performed by 
material life. But it is fatal to this view, that matter 
is proven to be of itself inert, and however organized 



122 



THE EXISTENCE, ORIGIN, 



or refined, cannot be the cause of its own motions, nor 
the real perpetuating principle in its farther perform- 
ances ; and we must, then, according to the theory that 
man has no soul, have recourse to some power foreign 
from his existence, by which his actions are accom- 
plished. We must, therefore, rest the whole weight 
of the argument on foreign spiritual influence, coer- 
cively performing all man's actions. 

Now, on this principle, it must be admitted, that the 
spirit that actuates him, in all his proceedings, must 
be a good or a bad spirit, or that both in connection 
compel his exertions in accomplishing good or evil. 
First, then, to suppose him always under the compel- 
ling power of a good spirit would make him morally 
perfect in all his thoughts, desires, words, and deeds ; 
for no good spirit would force him into evil. But as 
no man, through the whole course of his life, has been 
the subject of such perfection, so no man has been 
constantly the necessitated agent of a good spirit ; and 
this objection passes away into nonentity before the 
light of reason. But, secondly, to suppose man always 
under the propelling influence of an evil spirit, would 
prove him wrong in all his proceedings, and totally 
devoid of all natural and moral goodness; but as in 
the experience and practice of the worst men under 
the covenant of grace there is found some good desire, 
benevolent act, kind and affectionate word, so the 
most wicked men have not been always under the 
compelling power of an evil spirit ; and this view is as 
baseless as the former one. And, thirdly, if it be con- 



AND ATTRIBUTES OF THE SOUL. 123 

tended that both a good and a bad spirit might prevail 
over man at different times, and could coercively per- 
form all the good and evil found in his whole life, 
without having a spirit of his own to perform inde- 
pendent actions, then we would incontrovertibly main- 
tain that this view would be obviously contrary to the 
doctrine of the Bible ; for there we are addressed as 
free agents in our proceedings, and are commanded to 
avoid evil and to do good, as subjects of moral govern- 
ment, which plainly prove that we have immaterial 
spirits, and are capable of obeying our Creator, as ac- 
countable beings, eligible to the rewards of eternal 
glory in heaven. We therefore see where this soul- 
denying doctrine leads, and the egregious inconsisten- 
cies it implies in direct opposition to Scripture and 
Eeason. And now, in the light of heaven- inspired 
truth, we exultingly exclaim with Job, "there is a 
spirit in man, and the inspiration of the Almighty 
giveth them understanding." 

2. The Origin of the Soul. We are assured in the 
Bible that Jehovah is the Author of all things. " For 
by him were all things created, that are in heaven, 
and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether 
they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or 
powers : all things were created by him, and for him : 
and he is before all things, and by him all things con- 
sist." In this universal aggregate of God's creation, 
the soul of man is prominently included, and here we 
find its origin, and the truth asserted by Moses, that 
" the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, 



124 



THE EXISTENCE, OKIGIN 



and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life ; and 
man became a living soul." Here it is demonstrably 
established that man is a compound being ; his body 
being formed of the dust, and his soul immediately 
produced by the Creator of all things. This view- 
sweeps aside some contradictory notions held by some 
heathen philosophers, and others of a more recent date. 

The Epicureans argued, that "the soul was a subtle 
air composed of atoms, or primitive corpuscles." 
The Stoics affirmed, that " it was a flame or portion 
of heavenly light." And others declared, that " man 
is endowed with three kinds of soul, namely, the 
rational, which is purely spiritual, and infused by the 
immediate inspiration of God — the irrational or sensi- 
tive, being common to men and brutes, is supposed to 
be formed of the elements ; and lastly, the vegetative 
soul, as a principle of growth and nutrition ; as the 
first is of understanding, and the second of animal 
life." These expositors, instead of following the " true 
Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the 
world," groped their way in uncertainty, and with all 
their boasted philosophy died in comparative igno- 
rance. 

But others, more professedly theological, have run 
to another extreme, and asserted that the soul was a 
part of God himself. Now in answering this erro- 
neous theory, we maintain that, as the soul is created, it 
cannot be a part of God the Creator, who is uncreated, 
and eternal ; for that would imply the contradiction 
that the indivisible God transmitted a part of himself 



AND ATTRIBUTES OF THE SOUL. 



125 



into human souls. This would be a hypothesis for 
which no philosopher should contend, and of which 
even a sciolist ought to be ashamed. For if souls 
were an efflux, emanation, or impartation from the 
infinite essence, that would suppose that the unorigi- 
nated and eternal Spirit was divisible, and capable of 
being divided into separate portions. Therefore, a 
proper view of the nature and essence of God totally 
destroys the 1 theory that man, in any sense, is a part 
of eternal Deity. The Bible affords a full refutation 
of this false doctrine, where it represents impenitent 
sinners as objects of God's displeasure here, and of 
eternal damnation hereafter. If, then, souls were a 
part of God, that would prove when they' were 
damned, he doomed a part of himself to hell, which 
would be an absurdity too monstrous to need farther 
refutation. But if, to obviate this absurdity, any 
should deny future punishment, and affirm that, 
through the boundless benevolence of God, all man- 
kind will be exalted to heaven, then, even on that 
ground the absurdity would be obvious, for when all 
the human family would stand before the throne, to 
worship him that sitteth thereon, it would be one part 
of eternal Godhead worshipping another part. We 
need follow these foolish notions no further, for in 
whatsoever light we view 'them, they are obviously 
contradictory, and must pass away before reason and 
revelation, like any ignus-fatuus whose vaporing vacil- 
lations float nr empty air ; leaving us firmly founded 
on the unchangeable fact, that man's immortal soul is 



126 



THE EXISTENCE, ORIGIN, 



I 



not a refined arrangement of material organization, 
nor a portion of eternal Divinity, but an immaterial 
spirit created by Jehovah. 

3. The Will. The will is one of the essential 
powers of the soul, that never can be destroyed while 
the soul exists, of which it is an immortal constituent. 
Some, however, have unphilosophically asserted, that 
the will of man was destroyed in the fall of Adam, 
and that he can exercise no free agency in his salva- 
tion, only as a mere subject of irresistible grace, made 
willing in the day of Jehovah's power, by the com- 
pelling influence of the Holy Spirit in saving the 
heirs of the heavenly inheritance. Now we firmly 
believe with the apostle Paul, that we are saved by 
grace ; but that is quite a different doctrine to the one 
that we are here controverting, as implying the de- 
struction of personal free agency, and the coercive 
power of God in forcing man into religious and moral 
action, under the gospel dispensation, in contrast with 
the covenant of works which implied man's own free 
agency; for Adam could not have been properly 
called an accountable being, if he had possessed no 
free agency by which he could do good or evil as a 
probationary subject of God's moral administration. 
If, then, in the covenant of works, man was recognized 
by his Maker as a voluntary being, how can it be 
consistently thought that in the covenant of grace, 
man must be viewed as a mere machine? The 
answer given by some is, that by the Adamic trans- 
gression, man lost his freedom of will, or moral 



AND ATTRIBUTES OF THE SOUL. 



127 



agency, and others affirm that though it was lost by 
the original transgression, it was nevertheless restored 
by the atonement of Christ. 

Now we must fairly investigate these two theories 
according to reason and Scripture, keeping in view 
the doctrine of total depravity, and the soul-saving 
efficacy of the atonement, which can be fully estab- 
lished without embracing the doctrine of the destruc- 
tion of the human will by sin. And though the 
Bible represents man, by the fall, in a state of utter 
apostasy from God, it nowhere even intimates that his 
will was destroyed, or that he lost any essential attri- 
bute of his soul. The will, when all moral good was 
removed, still existed ; and though, without an atone- 
ment, its volitions could not be influenced by any 
good within its exercise, yet the soul, of which the 
will is a prominent constituent, must have ceased to 
exist, or its freedom of choice Ije coeval with its 
wickedness, and every argument to the contrary would 
make a man the subject of dire necessity, which 
would be inconsistent with the nature of an intelli- 
gent spirit. The existence of volition in intelligent 
beings, does not depend on the indwelling of either 
righteousness or unrighteousness, for in both, cases, 
freedom of will has been exercised. Satan, whose 
total apostasy from God none can reasonably dispute, 
is represented in the sacred oracles as voluntarily per- 
forming all his infernal actions, according to the 
volitions of his own will. 

Man, in his original state, must have been a free 



128 THE EXISTENCE, ORIGIN, 

agent ; for if he "had been coerced into sin, the power 
that predominated over him would have been ac- 
countable for his iniquity, and on that principle he 
could not be charged with unrighteousness. But as 
the Almighty Sovereign punished him for rebellion, 
we must conclude that his wickedness was the result 
of his own volition. If, then, sin must owe its exist- 
ence to free will, it could not destroy that will by 
which sin was produced ; for the power that destroys 
must always be greater than what is destroyed, and, 
therefore, for sin to destroy the will, would be to 
exert a greater power than that to which it owed its 
existence, and would imply that an effect could react 
and destroy the cause from whence it proceeded, 
which would be a glaring contradiction. We thus 
prove, according to the philosophical principles of 
cause and effect, that sin never destroyed the existence 
of the will as an attribute of the human soul. And 
the atonement that some design to honor by the doc- 
trine of the restoration of the will, claims no such 
praise. Its glory consists in having purchased and 
placed all necessary good within man's reach, and in 
bringing the Holy Spirit to enlighten his. mind, and 
to energize his will, that through the mighty exercise 
of faith in its soul-saving efficacy, he might be a 
voluntary subject of grace here, and an heir of glory 
hereafter. And as no exercise of free will could have 
effected man's salvation without an atonement, he 
would have been as effectually ruined in possession of 
his free agency, as if the will had been destroyed by 



AND ATTRIBUTES OF THE SOUL. 129 

sin, which would have been a logical contradiction, 
For the violated law left him in spiritual death, and 
no exercise of any of his powers could have saved 
him from eternal death, without the sacrifice of 
Calvary. Therefore the will of man, and the atone- 
ment of Christ, can be maintained without having 
recourse to the destruction of one of the soul's im- 
mortal powers, that is of such importance in relation 
to moral ability. It is further obvious, that if the 
will had been destroyed by sin, and restored by the 
atonement of Christ, then, the first actual transgres- 
sion after the restoration would destroy it again ; for 
to restore is to render the same back ; and if sin de- 
stroyed it in the first instance, it would also in the 
second ; and thus, after every act of wickedness, th e 
will would have to be restored, or sinners would be 
destitute of free will, and be, therefore, the dupes of 
necessity. On these principles of explanatory fairness 
we maintain that the immateriality of the "soul, the 
testimony of the Bible, and the philosophic nature of 
cause and effect, prove the indestructible existence of 
the will of man, as a proper subject of moral govern- 
ment, through the influence of the Holy Ghost, and 
the sacrificial merits of the atonement of Jesus 
Christ. 

4. The Soul has the Power of Reasoning. Eevelation 
recognizes man as a reasonable being, and invites him 
to the temple where reason enforces her unchangeable 
decisions. And instead of Jehovah ruling us by any 
coercive power contrary to the calm dictates of reason, 
9 



130 



THE EXISTENCE, ORIGIN, 



he says : " Come and let us reason together.*' Eeason 
is always on the side of God and righteousness. The 
power of reasoning was created in our first parents in 
Paradise. It triumphed with Christ on the cross, now 
lives in all the glory of the Church, and shining in 
the brightness of its heaven-originated splendor, will 
rise above this world's conflagration, and go down the 
range of everlasting ages in operation with all that is 
great and grand and glorious in creation. This glo- 
rious power, that is so active in all intelligent creation, 
is strictly connected with redemption and salvation as 
revealed in the Bible. 

Eeason loudly proclaims that he who rounded in- 
numerable orbs in his right hand, and u globed them 
bowling through the gloom profound," could easily 
make a revelation of his will to man, and by the 
miraculous process recorded in the Gospel of St. Luke, 
send forth his Son to be " a light of the Gentiles," and 
for salvation to the ends of the earth. And though, 
with these well established facts, some mysteries may 
be connected, through which the human mind may not 
clearly see, reason nevertheless sayeth that they are 
not to be rejected on that account, seeing that no finite 
mind can fully comprehend the ways of him who is 
infinite. If infidels find any thing in the laws and 
revolutions of nature beyond their comprehension, 
they are willing to resolve it into the unknown pro- 
ceedings of the great Architect of Nature, whose wis- 
dom is unsearchable, and whose ways are past finding 
out. But in the plan of salvation, of which the same 



AND ATTRIBUTES OP THE SOUL. 



131 



God is the Author, they discard what is mysterious, 
and unphilosophically bring their own finite minds to 
fathom all the soul-saving depths of redemption that 
will require everlasting ages for their development to 
holy intelligences. Now all this infidel cavilling is 
unreasonable, and contrary to the nature of the real 
reasoning power of the soul. Surely there are none 
that ought to be so foolishly ignorant as to suppose 
that the great Jehovah could bring down all the 
eternal principles of his moral government to the 
capacity of every Deistical witling who chooses to 
shun the light and resist the truth. Is it not amply 
sufficient that all God's requirements are founded in 
boundless benevolence, and that all the doctrines of 
salvation beam in the splendor of heaven-inspired 
evidence, fully comporting with the noblest exercise 
of all the attributes of an immortal soul, on its march 
to the heaven of heavens? In that glorious realm, 
reason shall have untrammeled exercise in the pure 
spiritual worship of " the high and lofty One that in- 
habiteth eternity." There the transcendent scenes of 
divine glory, opening in endless perspective on the 
astonished vision of all the heavenly hosts, shall afford 
a sufficient range for the exercise of the noblest ener- 
gies of immortalized reason, in following the Everlast- 
ing in his ways and works. 

In this world, reason is often obstructed in its exer- 
cise by the dilapidated state of the organs through 
which it operates, and its brilliancy is comparatively 
clouded; but when human nature- is restored to 



132 THE EXISTENCE, ORIGIX, 

pristine perfection, then reason will shine out in its 
original strength as one of God's best gifts to man. 
Even now, when not fanatically influenced by insanity, 
or inactive by idiotism, it is capable of astonishing ex- 
ertions in science and salvation. Under the influence 
of the Holy Ghost, it is the great exposition of the 
Book of God. Sophistry, superstitor, and fanaticism, 
fly at its approach, and the devil trembles at the 
sound of its voice. It is always present in the coun- 
cils of righteous legislation, and fully accords with the 
enforcement of proper penalties for the violation of 
righteous laws that support the rights of the innocent, 
and perpetuate the principles of good government. 
Heaven-enlightened reason rejoices in the Divine 
arrangement that exalts saints to heaven, and also 
consents to the consignment of impenitent sinners 
to hell. Were we to lose the power of reasoning, we 
would soon grope our way in the darkness of com- 
parative ignorance. It is invaluable in all the agri- 
cultural, commercial, mechanical, political, editorial, 
scientific, medical, legal, military, naval, congressional, 
and governmental pursuits of life. Without the lively 
exercise of reason, a minister of the sanctuary would 
soon become fanatical or stupidly imbecile. It actuates 
'and strengthens all the powers of the soul, and enables 
it to argue its way through all the intricacies of con- 
troversial subjects. It is instrumental in all the 
triumphs of Christianity on earth, and wreaths, with 
unfading laurels, the brows of all the " sacramental 
host of God's elect" in heaven. 



AND ATTRIBUTES OF THE SOUL. 133 



5. The soul has the astonishing power of Contemplation. 
Influenced by inspiration, the soul mounts on Contem- 
plation's pinions, and soars above angels, and thrones, 
and dominions, and principalities, and powers, and all 
the immortal hosts, and in profound thoughtful ness, 
arrives at the eternal solitude that Jehovah occupied 
before any thing but himself existed, and expatiates 
with unspeakable delight on his perfections, and 
dwells with transports of joy on those attributes that 
are intimately connected with our present and eternal 
welfare. It looks with astonishing interest to the des- 
tined hour when the slumbers of eternity were 
awakened with the creative fiat that rolled suns, sys- 
tems, and innumerable worlds into existence, to shine 
in the mantle of night, and to light up the splendors 
of oriental mornings, while untold millions of intelli- 
gent spirits rang hosannas of cheerful adoration to the 
God of all. And roaming over the beauties of creation, 
it approximates the vast circumference of Jehovah's 
realm, and lighting on the distant margin, explores 
the measureless void where creative power was never 
exerted, and where myriads of worlds, at the 
Almighty's bidding, could spring into actual existence, 
in numbers without number, along the range of ever- 
lasting ages ; still leaving ample room for the further 
exertion of creative energy in peopling space with be- 
ings of different orders, according to infinite wisdom, 
power, and goodness. Fraught with this important 
knowledge from the celestial regions, the soul, in its 
vast contemplations, descends to explore the chaos 



131: 



THE EXISTENCE, ORIGIN, 



from whence earth, sea, suns, and stars arose at the 
Omnific word, when "the morning stars sang together 
and all the sons of Grod shouted for joy," over this 
new-born world. Then Adam and Eve, in conjugal 
affection, enjoyed unspeakable blessedness amidst all 
the blooming variety that surrounded them, where 
the Tree of Life flourished in heaven-Originated 
magnificence, and invited the happy pair to a participa- 
tion of its own immortality. There our great progeni- 
tor was anointed on the altar of Nature, and pro- 
claimed lord of this lower world. The soul, also, in 
untrammeled contemplation, dwells with dreadful 
solemnity on the entrance of sin into the beautiful 
Paradise, and triumphantly exults in the onward 
march of salvation, through Jesus of Nazareth. Con- 
templation comes down with the history of the world, 
and expatiates upon the proceedings of patriarchs 
and prophets, apostles and fathers, churches and 
nations, fleets and armies ; upon the rise and fall of 
empires, and the overthrow of idolatry, iniquity, and 
sin, by the glorious spread of Christianity, until " the 
earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the Lord, 
as the waters cover the sea." And when the sun shall 
shed his last rays on the evening of the world, Con- 
templation, as an immortal power of the soul, shall 
close her eyes on all beneath ; and when sun, moon, 
and stars, shall recede from her vision, she shall then 
sail down the stream of eternity to contemplate the 
unoriginated God in all his ways and works of creation, 
redemption, salvation, damnation, and eternal glorifica- 



AND ATTRIBUTES OF THE SOUL. 



135 



tion, as comprised in his unchangeable administration, 
that no power of the soul can ever fully explore, in 
all its bearings on every transaction in the roll of 
everlasting ages ; but can be only fully known to 
him whose wisdom is infinite, and from whom noth- 
ing can be hid on the tide of time or range of eternity. 

6. The soul has the capacity for enjoying happiness 
and enduring misery. This world affords many bless- 
ings, and a good man has the "promise of the life 
that now is and of that which is to come." And as 
"the body without the spirit is dead," the soul must 
possess the real vital principle of life and happiness. 
We have numerous sources of pleasure, notwithstand- 
ing all the calamities, sufferings, and sorrows of life, 
through which we have to pass in our pilgrimage to 
immortality. The companions with whom we 
associate in scenes of gaiety, and the innocent amuse- 
ments in which we engage, contribute their share of 
earthly delights. The books we peruse, and the 
improvement we make in intellectual pursuits, have 
a tendency to call us away from dissipation and vice, 
that lead to misery, instead of happiness. Great 
intellectual delight arises from studying the works of 
creation in their grandeur and relation to their infinite 
Author. 

" There is a pleasure in the pathless woods, 
There is a rapture on the lonely shore, 
There is society, where none intrudes, 
By the deep sea, and music in its roar." 

Spring affords joyful opportunities for romantic 



136 



THE EXISTENCE, ORIGIN, 



revelry when she walks forth in unclouded sun- 
shine, and decks the hills and valleys with flowery 
pride, and smiles on beds of roses and bowers of joy. 
Then the feathered songsters of the grove warble their 
melodious strains to the surrounding scenes, while 
Nature seems vocal with the voice of praise. And 
when summer waves in yellow harvest, and repays 
the husbandman for his toils, cares, and anxieties, he 
then rejoices with his family and friends, in possession 
of peace and plenty. And when crowded cities pour 
forth their promiscuous throng, to revel in rural re- 
treats, and country delights, and to ramble along the 
surge-sounding shores of old ocean, or to try their 
strength in battling with his ever recurring waves, 
then varied pleasures are enjoyed ; and the busy mul- 
titude return to the avocations of life, or to scenes of 
amusement, with healthful vigor for farther opportuni- 
ties in the exercises connected with business, science, 
and salvation, for the glory of God, and the welfare of 
the world. 

Winter, too, wrapt in his hoary mantle of snows 
and storms, assembles his active throng to engage in 
those jubilant enjoyments unknown to other seasons 
of the year, and shecls rejoicing around the fireside 
and blazing hearth. And when Night rides forth in 
her ebon car, and with sullen pomp ascends her 
majestic throne, and sways her sceptre over this rural 
world of mountains, hills, glens, valleys, oceans, and 
continents, all wrapt in nocturnal beauty of light and 
shade, in gorgeous variety, from Zembla to Cape Horn, 



AND ATTRIBUTES OF THE SOUL. . 137 

then the soul rises with swift-winged speed to view 
the azure sky in all its vaulted glories, and joyfully ex- 
claims, with the sweet singer of Israel : " The heavens 
declare the glory of God ; and the firmament showeth 
his handiwork." And while the intellectual powers 
roam and revel among the suns and systems of im- 
mensity, the soul feels an astronomical delight, and 
looks with faith's illumined rapture through nature's 
works to nature's God, who sheds the splendor of his 
perfections over all creation, and combines its indes- 
cribable varieties in his vast and unchangeable 
administration. 

The Bible, also, is a source of unfailing happiness 
to the truly pious, and fills their souls with heavenly 
knowledge and ineffable blessedness, while leading 
the mind to a firm reliance on the " great and precious 
promises" that are yea and amen in Christ Jesus. In 
that blessed Book of truth and life, the inspired pen- 
men poured a tide of splendor on the accumulating 
•triumphs of the Church, that "looketh forth as the 
morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terri- 
ble as an army with banners." The Christian shares 
the happiness of this glorious Church here, and fully 
expects a participation in her eternal blessedness here- 
after, above sin, death, and hell, in the heaven of 
heavens, with God's glorified millions and angelic 
armies. The established means of grace, and the 
fellowship of saints on earth, bring great spiritual 
enjoyment; and the Holy Spirit dwells in the hearts 
of the righteous as a " well of water springing up into 



138 



THE EXISTENCE, ORIGIN, 



everlasting life." And when the minister of salvation 
breaks the solemn silence of the holy sanctuary, and 
pours ont the explanatory tempest of God's indigna- 
tion against sin, and in strains of heavenly eloquence 
points believers to the rewards of eternal victory, a 
triumphant shont is often heard in Zion, and happy 
sonls look np with joy to the celestial city, where they 
shall measure the duration of their happiness with the 
existence of the Author of all good. In that glorious 
realm, the immortal spirit shall be capable of an 
amount of happiness that shall surpass all description ; 
and I must therefore leave the further explanation of 
the soul's power of enjoyment, until eternity shall 
shed its immortal radiance on all the society of saints, 
where God himself crowns the climax of all heavenly 
happiness. 

But the soul has also the capacity to endure misery. 
Every sinner knows that in a course of rebellion 
against God he feels unhappy. For though the animal 
arrangements of time and sense afford him pleasure, 
in the absence of pain and affliction, yet when visited 
by these harbingers of death, his pleasures soon sub- 
side ; and amidst all the splendor of earthly things, 
he sighs and suffers, when gold and'silver, houses and 
lands, chariots and horses, friends and relations, are 
all insufficient to impart that happiness which the 
soul requires to counteract guilt and misery, when a 
dreadful apprehension of damnation forces itself upon 
the mind of him who feels himself unprepared for 
heaven. Now let us view the impenitent sinner on 



AND ATTKIBUTES OF THE SOUL. 



139 



the last verge of life, about to launch into an undone 
eternity, with all his sources of worldly pleasure left 
behind. We will not falsify his experience by deny- 
ing that he has often had a great amount of earthly 
enjoyment : for Moses chose " rather to suffer affliction 
with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of 
sin for a season." It is therefore freely admitted that 
a sinner has a delusive pleasure in a sinful course of 
life, in many of its phases and earth-born circumstances ; 
but, alas ! the Bible declares that " sin, when it is fin- 
ished, bringeth forth death." Let us, then, for a 

. moment, view a man of wealth and pleasure, with no 
soul-saving religion, treading on the last verge of his 
earthly career, without hope or God in the world; 
and when he breathes his last, follow him to his final 
abode after death, and contemplate the misery he 
must endure with the devil and his angels ; but " here 
thoughts cannot follow, and here bold fancy dies." 
The awful circumstances connected with his future 
destiny cannot now be fully unfolded. They would 
be too awful for human utterance ; and we must leave 
" shadows, clouds, and darkness resting on them," 
until the light of eternity shall reveal the true state 

i of a God-forsaken soul in hell that might have enjoyed 
eternal happiness in heaven. 

7. The SouVs endless duration. Scripture and rea- 
son prove that the soul is the principle in man that 
thinks, imagines, contemplates, reasons, wills, enjoys, 
and suffers ; and to suppose its extinction in any part 
of eternal duration would be an unwarrantable pre- 



HO 



THE EXISTENCE, ORIGIN, 



sumption. Its vast capacity, onward desires, astonish- 
ing powers, and "longing after immortality," are posi- 
tive arguments in favor of its indestructibility. There 
is, however, nothing independently immortal but God. 
he is the "King eternal, immortal, invisible," he "who 
only hath immortality." And though this necessarily 
arises from his unoriginated existence, he is on that 
principle the source of immortality to others. When 
he created the soul, and willed its endless perpetuation, 
then its immortality was as certainly secured, as if the 
principle of endless progression had been independently 
in itself. And as there is no evidence derived from 
philosophy or revelation to prove its annihilation, we 
may logically believe that the soul shall exist coeval 
with the everlasting existence of its Author. 

The destruction of any thing whatever, supposes its 
inadequac}^ to answer the end for which it was pro- 
duced, or that it had already accomplished the design 
of its maker; and thus its further existence would be 
unnecessary. But however true this might be in rela- 
tion to the forms of mechanism constructed by men, 
it could have no application to the soul as a work of 
infinite wisdom, power, and goodness, that comports 
with all the perfections of eternal Godhead, whose 
plans are so infinitely perfect, that he can never change 
them for others, or in any instance destroy his own 
work, that has the stamp of eternal Divinity upon it 
to guarantee its perpetual existence. Solomon sayeth : 
."I know that whatsoever God cloeth it shall be for- 



AND ATTRIBUTES OF THE SOUL. 



141 



ever : nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken 
from it." 

Keason gloriously corroborates revelation, and 
proves that if the soul should ever be destroyed by 
its Creator, two opposite ideas must have influenced 
his mind in its creation, or that some new idea entered 
the Divine mind afterward, which in either case would 
be a palpable contradiction in application to him who 
is u infinite in his understanding." No being can will 
oppositely by the same act of volition at any indivisi- 
ble moment; and as all duration with God is one eter- 
nal present, for at the same moment he inhabiteth 
eternity, it would be unreasonable to say that he could 
will the creation and destruction of the soul at any 
given point of his volitions. And as he is everlast- 
ingly consistent in all his proceedings, his volitions, 
oppositely exercised for the soul's creation and des- 
truction, would be an impossibility, according to the 
real nature of the philosophy of his infinite spirit. 
But an objector may assert, that in the succession of 
events and flow of duration, Jehovah could will the 
creation of the soul at one time, and afterward will its 
annihilation. But it is unfortunate for this view, that 
it makes the unchangeable God changeable, by acting 
oppositively at different periods ; while the Bible de- 
clares that with him "is no variableness, neither 
shadow of turning; the same yesterday, to-day, and 
forever." But another opponent may contend, that 
the soul, at the termination of its earthly career, hav- 
ing answered the end of its being, might be destroyed, 



142 



THE EXISTENCE, ORIGIN, 



and end with the animal life of the body, without any 
imperfection in itself, or inconsistency in its Maker ; 
but even this theory would involve the absurdity, 
that Omnipotence, acting on a positive existence, pro- 
duced a nonentity, as would be the case, if God de- 
stroyed the soul. There must always be a congruity 
between cause and effect, and therefore nonentit}^ 
never could be the effect of entity. When being was 
created, the effect was in accordance with the creative 
power exerted, and there was no incongruity between 
the power exercised and the object created ; but if the 
Creator would resolve it back to non-existence, he 
would not only destroy his own work, but by an ex- 
ertion of Omnipotent power, produce non-existence or 
nothing ; and that would be an obvious contradiction, 
contrary to the philosophic nature of cause and effect. 
Now this argument, and the others that we have ad- 
vanced, cover the whole ground of controversy, and we 
now openly defy the philology of philologists, and the 
falsifying influence of devils to overthrow them. If, then, 
the soul will never be extinguished by its Creator, it 
cannot be destroyed by others ; for, if all the concen- 
trated forces of heaven, earth, and hell, were to exert 
their energies in relation to annihilation, they could 
not destroy the essential essence of the smallest being 
or substance in Grod's dominions, and therefore, on 
that ground, the soul must be immortal. Neither can 
the soul itself, by the exertion of its own powers or 
volition, destroy its own existence ; for the power that 
destroys must always be greater than what is destroyed 



AND ATTRIBUTES OF THE SOUL. 



143 



and would be more than it could exert for its own 
destruction: and any power exercised by its inherent 
energy, could not react and destroy the source from 
whence that energy proceeded ; for no effect can de- 
stroy the cause to which it owes its existence. We 
have now proven by Scripture, reason, and the nature 
of the soul, that it must endlessly exist, as " a link in 
being's endless chain," that was indestructively formed 
by the Creator of universal existence. And we may 
conclude the whole argument on the existence, origin, 
attributes, and duration of the soul in the following 
words : 

" If sav'd, it mounts the heav'nly heights 

Above this changeful ball, 

Partakes of endless pure delights, 

And finds in God its all. 

If lost, it sinks to shades of woe, 

Where rebel angels dwell, 

To pains that no abatement know, 

Amidst the flames of hell." 

II. The profit arising from gaining the world, 

AND LOSING THE SOUL. 

The whole world, in a general sense, may be 
summed up in its riches, honors, and pleasures ; and 
therefore, on these principles, we shall proceed in our 
explanation. 

1. Could we gain all the riches of this world and lose 
our souls, what would the whole amount profit us? 
Alexander the Great fell far short of gaining the 
whole world ; for though he subdued many countries, 



144 



THE EXISTENCE, ORIGIN, 



and accumulated vast possessions, yet death met him 
in the glory of his career ; and while boasting of past 
conquests ; and projecting further enterprises, called 
him away to where earthly wealth and fame are for- 
ever lost. But were it possible to gain the whole 
world, the. contrast might be made, the profit ascer- 
tained, and the dreadful" balance struck between gain- 
ing this whole world, and losing the soul ; and ■ then 
would the vast disproportion be clearly seen between 
the unsubstantial treasures of time, and the soul-damn- 
ing horrors of eternity. 

Could an individual, by right indisputable, and 
ascendency unrivalled, gain all this world's oceans 
and continents, and sway an unlimited sceptre, where 
myriads would flourish under his administration, and 
millions delight to accomplish his purposes — would 
palaces proud and unparalleled raise their lofty pinna- 
cles, and mines inexhaustible pour forth their 
treasures, yet amidst all the wealth, splendor, and 
sunshine of life, the solemn reflection of losing the 
soul, would cast a mantle of mourning over the whole, 
and leave a vacuum that God only could fill. 

" But he who makes the Lord his stay, 

Shall find his bliss forever sure ; 
When earth, and all its hopes decay, 

He'll stand secure." 

2. Could we gain all the honors of the world, the whole 
would be fleeting as airy vanity, and ivould soon vanish 
as a vapor that appear eth for a moment, but the next is 



AND- ATTRIBUTES OF TEIE SOUL. 



145 



gone forever. Were a warrior to drive his prancing 
steeds and blood-stained chariot on the field of Mars, 
and in deep-toned desolation, spread death and de- 
struction through ranks and files of opposing powers, 
until the last enemy would grasp the cold ground in 
the agonies of death, and cast a long, last look on the 
scene of slaughter that surrounded him, where his 
brave comrades fell in promiscuous ruin, and where 
his own fame-forsaken spirit would soon float on a 
crimson torrent to where no monumental marbles 
record the deeds of the fallen, then, O then! what 
would all this avail the victor who returned in 
triumph from the human carnage, and who met, on 
victory's red field, no antagonist sufficiently formida- 
ble to pluck the martial laurel that spread its green- 
glories over all his achievements; for when hailed by 
the acclamations of victorious armies, and surrounded 
by the trophies of earthly fame, a handwriting on the 
wall might condemn him like Belshazzar, and an 
angel of the Lord might smite him like Herod. Or 
could a statesman ascend the highest pinnacle of 
national fame, and make tyranny and oppression fall 
before him, " until an eternal shield was placed be- 
tween the oppressor and the oppressed ;" could the 
strength of his positions, the correctness of his argu- 
ments, and the thunder of his eloquence, make the 
thrones of despots tremble, and like Cicero and De- 
mosthenes, shine along the range of ages in all the his- 
torical fame of unrivalled greatness, for making the * 

hearts of multitudes fall before the power of eloquence, 
10 



146 



THE EXISTENCE, OEIGIN, 



as the leaves of the forest fall in the autumnal storm ; 
even then, what would all this glare of earthly splen- 
dor accomplish in comparison with those ages of ages 
where all departed greatness, in its most brilliant 
recollection, composes but a mournful contrast with 
the loss of the soul. 

Could a minister of the sanctuary obtain all the 
orders, offices, and honors of the church, and ascend 
the highest battlements of Zion, " having the ever- 
lasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the 
earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, 
and people, saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and 
give glory to him," and standing on an ecclesiastical 
eminence above others, over whom he may have ob- 
tained an ascendency by the most honorable means, 
or by earth-born policy and power r proclaim the 
nature, attributes, and administration of God, and the 
wide-spreading glory of the Church, that shall rise, 
indestructible and eternal, above the wreck of cen- 
turies, and ruin of worlds; and were multitudes 
enlightened by his instructions, and myriads con- 
verted by the power of God, through his instrumen- 
tality, and angels desired to look into the mysteries 
he unfolded, yet there is an eminence on which Chris- 
tianity rewards her experimental votaries, to which 
he may not have ascended, and a devouring vortex to 
which, with all his honors thick upon him, he might 
be speedily consigned. For though he spake " with 
the tongues of men and of angels," and had not charity, 
or the love of God shed abroad in his heart by the 



AND ATTRIBUTES OF THE SOUL. 



147 



Holy Spirit, be would be "as sounding brass or a 
tinkling cymbal," and with all his mortal greatness, 
Christ might say unto him: "Depart from me, ye 
cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil 
and his angels." 

3. Could we gain all the pleasures of the world, and 
lose our souls, what would their most exquisite delights 
profit us in comparison with a peace of conscience, a joy 
in the Holy Ghost, and ultimately the crowns and thrones 
of eternal glory in heaven ? Alas ! these would all 
pass away with this present life, and at last leave us 
surrounded with all the indescribable horrors of 
eternity. Now pleasure, with her Syren song and 
passion-binding spell, leads on to beds of roses and 
bowers of joy, where the Sylvan queen plays the 
iEolian harp, and sings the intoxicating chorus, until 
every sense is enraptured with sounds of melody and 
scenes of loveliness, and the carnal mind is urged on 
in all the transient varieties of sinful joys. But a 
voice irresistible will at last break the enchantment, 
and death unrelenting will dissipate the delusion, and 
the whole mundane magnificence of riches, honor 
and pleasure, will recede from the vision ; and then 
impenitent sinners will lose all for which they lost 
their souls. And now, on these principles of profit 
and loss, the important question of the text, pro- 
pounded by Jesus Christ, comes home with fearful 
import. "For what shall it profit a man, if he shall 
gain the whole world, and lose his own soul" in the 
unutterable labyriuths of eternal damnation. 



SERMON V. 
ON THE FOREKNOWLEDGE OF GOD, 



CALLING, JUSTIFICATION, AND GLORIFICATION 
OF BELIEVERS IN CHRIST JESUS, ACCORD- 
ING TO THE PRINCIPLES OF PRE- 
DESTINATION REVEALED IN 
THE BIBLE. 



For whom lie did foreknow, lie also did predestinate to 
be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be * 
the first-born among many brethren. Moreover, whom he 
did predestinate ; them he also called : and whom he called, 
them he also justified : and whom he justified, them he also 
glorified — Romans viii. 29, 30. 

Preface. — The calling, justification, and glorification of be- 
lievers in Christ Jesus, are subjects of vast importance, and 
call for profound and elaborate investigation. But the limits 
of the following discourse will only allow a short explanation 
of the different parts of the text. 

The author trusts that the truths therein contained, will com- 
mend themselves to the enlightened understanding of impartial 
readers ; and according to the principles of predestination 
revealed in the Bible, point them on the path of final perse- 
verance, to glory, honor, and immortality in the " Heaven of 
heavens." 



It must be obvious to all who carefully read the 
Bible, that the ancient Israelites were the peculiar 
people of God, according to the institutions of 
Judaism. But in the gospel dispensation, the Gentiles 

(148) 



CALLING OF BELIEVERS. 149 

have equal rights and privileges with the Jews. This 
glorious scheme of salvation was to be carried for- 
ward in the calling, justification, and glorification of 
believers, in accordance with the counsel and fore- 
knowledge of God ; which led Paul to exclaim : " Oh, 
the depths of the riches both of the wisdom and 
knowledge of God ! how unsearchable are his judg- 
ments and his ways past finding out." In discoursing 
on the passage now to be explained, we shall proceed 
with the division that Inspiration has furnished, and 
in the first place, show the nature of that foreknow- 
ledge and predestination iconnected with the salvation 
of those conformed to the image of the Son of God, 
as the first-born among many brethren. Secondly, 
the calling, justification, and glorification of those 
comprised in the predestinated arrangement. 

I. Explain the real nature of that fore- 
knowledge AND PREDESTINATION CONNECTED WITH 
THE SALVATION OF THOSE CONFORMED TO THE 
IMAGE OF THE SON OF GOD, AS THE FIRST-BORN 
AMONG MANY BRETHREN. # 

Now we here maintain, that philosophically speak- 
ing, there can neither be foreknowledge nor after 
knowledge with God. For from the eternity of his 
existence, the omnipresence of his Spirit, and the in- 
finity of his understanding, he must know, at the 
same moment, all things past, present, and to come; 
and therefore, foreknowledge in God, as stated in the 
Bible, must be considered as bringing the exercise of 



150 ON THE FOREKNOWLEDGE OF GOD, 

the omniscient mind to the finity of our comprehen- 
sion, and the real succession of events, instead of any 
priority in the knowledge of omniscience. And as 
he knows all things concerning the ungodly, as he 
does the righteous, there must be some special sense in 
which his knowledge stands connected with the salva- 
tion of those specified in the text. For if we take 
the universal extent of foreknowledge as the ground 
of predestination to everlasting glory, then, all man- 
kind would be thus predestinated ; for infinite knowl- 
edge embraced them all. And as millions do not 
come to God for salvation, and die in their sins, we 
must adopt that mode of interpretation that will com- 
port with the redemption of Christ, the means of 
grace, the free agency of man, and the influence of the 
Holy Ghost, in the accomplishment of righteousness 
and true holiness, as a qualification for eternal glory 
in heaven. Any other counsel, foreknowledge, or 
predestination for salvation, would be contrary to 
God's revealed will in the Bible, and could not stand 
the test of logical reasoning. 

It is vastly important to properly understand the 
true import of that foreknowledge of God that is so 
conspicuously connected with the whole range of 
human salvation. As some very erroneous opinions 
have been preached and published on that subject, it 
is the more essential to give foreknowledge a fair ex- 
planation, without entering the controversial regions 
farther then propriety will admit or our space allow. 
Some have asserted, " that though omniscience as the 



AND CALLING OF BELIEVERS. 



151 



capacity of knowing is unbounded, yet God, as an 
infinitely free agent, can restrain its exercise from and 
extend it to what he sees best, and that if this be 
denied, we destroy his free agency, and overrule him 
by necessity." Now this erroneous theory may have 
arisen from the idea that an extension of foreknow- 
ledge to all events would make God accountable for 
sin, seeing that all circumstances would transpire as 
infinite foreknowledge apprehended ; and therefore, it 
might be thought, that the whole amounted in sub- 
stance to an unconditional decree ; and on that mode 
of arguing, some would restrain the exercise of om- 
niscence without ever philosophically thinking that 
foreknowledge could have no necessitating influence 
on the moral actions of free agents, and that no ex- 
ercise of any of the attributes of eternal Godhead 
could ever be the cause of sin. And as the objector 
holds that "God is an infinitely free agent," he cannot 
affirm that he is compelled to restrain his knowledge, 
for that would bring the charge of necessity on his 
own theory, and destroy that very freedom of Divine 
agency on which his argument rests ; and it follows, 
that if Jehovah is not compelled to restrain his knowl- 
edge, there can be no inconsistency in asserting that 
he can as unlimitedly consent to know all things as 
the omniscience would be infinitely capable of know- 
ing them ; and, therefore, the most extensive exercise 
of omnipotent agency be made to comport with the 
widest range of foreknowledge. And instead of 
Jehovah "restraining his knowledge for wise pur- 



152 ON THE FOREKNOWLEDGE OF GOD, 

poses," from any event, he would be unable to deter- 
mine from what it would be best to restrain, or to 
what extend it, until the whole transactions were 
known in all their ultimate bearings. We, then, not 
only maintain the truth and consistency of God's 
unrestricted knowledge, but we prove that the opposite 
doctrine implies a contradiction, and cannot stand the 
test of strict examination, nor answer any good end 
in theology. 

Another theory of foreknowledge affirms, that 
"God foreknew all things, because he decreed all 
things." Now we maintain that this view is awfully 
erroneous, for it not only places the decree in absolute 
ignorance, as existing prior to infinite knowledge, but 
makes God the author of sin. For instead of fore- 
knowledge arising from an eternal decree, it is in- 
herent in the very nature of God's unoriginated exist- 
ence; and his presence in all space and duration, 
makes it impossible for him to be ignorant of any 
thing in time and eternity. On these unchangeable 
principles, the exercise of omniscence cannot, in any 
sense, depend on an eternal decree ; and the votaries 
of this doctrine are logically forced to adopt another 
mode of explaining their views of foreknowledge, or 
to fall under the chastisement of Scripture and reason 
for making Jehovah accountable for all the abomina- 
tions that ever existed. 

But in further proof of the validity of our argu- 
ments, we shall refer to some Scripture facts that are 
in special connection with our views of foreknowledge. 



AND CALLING OF BELIEVERS. 



153 



The Lord Jehovah revealed to Abraham the afflictions 
that the Israelites would endure by the wickedness 
of the Egyptians, and made known to Elisha the acts 
of abomination that Hazgel would commit when 
raised to the throne of Syria. And in many instances 
the wickedness of the Jews was foretold hundreds of 
years before the circumstances transpired that brought 
upon them the judgments of God. Now in all these, 
and in many others recorded in the Bible, there are 
wicked actions to which foreknowledge had full ex- 
tension, and in which human agency had free exer- 
cise; and though foreknowledge could not be 
disappointed, nor the actions be different from what 
they were foreseen, yet their existence did not depend 
on Divine prescience, but on human volition ; and 
Jehovah, seeing all things, saw how their will would 
be exercised in wickedness, and accordingly predicted 
by the prophets, without that prediction or fore- 
knowledge having any necessitating influence on their 
actions. If, then, in a limited exercise of omniscence, 
some wicked actions were foreseen, in which human 
agency had free exercise, and Jehovah's holiness full 
exculpation from all moral evil, then, on that same 
principle, his prescience could be carried forward to 
all things, without being chargeable for any unright- 
eousness found in the whole transactions. For if 
any decree or foreknowledge of God would determine 
the volitions of the will, then there could be no con- 
tingency in human actions, nor moral freedom in 
accountable beings ; and on that ground, God's com- 



154 ON THE FOREKNOWLEDGE OF GOD, 

mauds to man to refrain from evil, and do good, would 
be entirely extraneous, as his own decree bad abso- 
lutely determined the whole human and infernal pro- 
ceedings. We now ask, are any of the spurious 
expounders of predestination willing to face this con- 
clusion, and to charge all the wickedness of men and 
devils on the Lord Jehovah, as their theory would 
inevitably do ; and if they are not, let them start back 
with abhorrence from the doctrine that would bring 
them to such a deplorable result. 

In maintaining the holiness of Grod, and the correct- 
ness of his moral administration, we must stand on 
the doctrine of the freedom of the will and the 
accountability of man as a moral agent ; and then, 
without infracting any principle' of the Divine govern- 
ment, or curtailing foreknowledge, we can triumphantly 
affirm, that he who sees the will of man possessed of 
power to do or not to do certain actions, can as clearly 
foresee the result of the volition in fact, as he saw it 
prior to its exercise in possibility. 

Therefore, a fair exhibition of the predestination of 
the text shows, that foreknowledge can have no pro- 
pelling influence on moral actions that depend on 
human agency for their existence ; for actions arising 
from moral freedom would be exactly the same if 
Jehovah had been previously ignorant of them. For 
omniscience, acting in harmony with all the Divine 
attributes, can never be accountable for the violation 
of any law that is holy, just, and good, and has for its 
foundation the perfections of eternal Deity. . This 



AND CALLING OF BSLIEVEES. 



155 



view fairly settles predestination on the basis of truth, 
and exhibits foreknowledge in relation to salvation, 
according to its real scriptural import ; and eternally 
frees it from having any influence in producing trans- 
gression here, or damnation hereafter ; and so the call- 
ing, justification, and eternal glorification specified in 
the passage that we are explaining, accords with 
boundless benevolence, and exonerates Jehovah from 
all partiality to others when impenitent sinners are 
excluded from salvation on earth, and crowns and 
thrones of glory in heaven. 

But as sin has entered into our world, and involved 
the necessity of salvation, it is essential to a full 
understanding of the character of God and the whole 
gospel scheme that embraces sinners, to ascertain how 
sin was first produced, and its baleful influence on 
our first parents in Paradise, and, through their fallen 
state, on all mankind. In tracing sin to its source, 
we cannot find its origin in Grod ; for he, being infinitely 
holy in himself, could communicate no unholiness to 
others. For in the unchangeable nature of cause and 
effect, an attribute that is immutably holy in its ex- 
istence, can never be directly or indirectly the cause 
of sin in its exercise ; and this extricates the character 
of Grod from all connection with sin in design, decree, 
or action ; and it therefore follows, that the sin which 
involved the necessity of salvation, was the act of a 
finite being governed by moral law, and like all other 
intelligences was once perfectly holy. 

Law, to rational and holy beings, implies a power 



156 ON THE FOREKNOWLEDGE OF GOD, 

to obey or disobey, or they "would be overruled by 
coercion; and if compelled to moral action, could not 
be properly approved or condemned for their actions, 
and as the passive pliants of necessity, would not be 
proper subjects of moral government, nor of rewards 
and punishments, which in free agents must always 
be connected with the righteousness or unrighteousness 
of their own voluntary proceedings, in relation to the 
standard of accountability by which they are held 
responsible to the great Lawgiver, that always governs 
his intelligent creation in accordance with the capac- 
ity of their existence, the circumstances of their situa- 
tion, and the principles of good government ; and he 
who will not obey the law, nor accept pardon, must 
suffer the penalty. Jehovah, on principles of wise and 
benevolent jurisdiction, could not bring intelligent 
beings into existence, and in harmony with holiness, 
justice, and goodness, decree their downfall; for that 
would place his proceedings in contradictory opposi- 
tion, and give an awful exhibition of inconsistency in 
first forming them holy and happy, and afterward 
causing them, by his own arrangement, to transgress 
the great principles of righteousness that govern all 
pure intelligences. The sin, therefore, that led to the 
necessity of salvation, cannot be identified with God's 
decree, and shall now be brought to the origin of its 
existence, prior to its introduction into Paradise, 
where it overwhelmed Adam and Eve in moral ruin, 
and involved the whole human race in deep depravity, 
beyond the possibility of the calling, justification, or 



AND CALLING OF BELIEVERS. 



157 



glorification expressed in the text, without a Divine 
scheme of redemption and salvation to destroy sin, 
and to bring present and everlasting righteousness to 
true believers in Jesus of Nazareth, as the great sacri- 
fice for sin. St. Peter declares that " God spared not 
the angels that- sinned, but cast them down to hell." 
And Jude says : " and the angels which kept not their 
first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath re- 
served in everlasting chains under darkness, unto the 
judgment of the great day." Now these passages 
establish the fallen state of some angelic beings, who 
fell by sin from their original rectitude through the 
transgression of law ; and by the agency of a fallen 
spirit, in the form of a serpent, our first parents were 
led to sin against their Maker, and by their disobedi- 
ence, brought upon the whole race " death and all its 
woes." Here, then, we see the necessity of a scheme 
of mercy and salvation, that would harmonize the 
Divine attributes, support the dignity of violated law, 
and maintain the free agency of man, in a plan of re- 
conciliation that would sufficiently satisfy justice, 
and leave room for the exercise of infinite goodness, 
in forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin. All 
these ends were gloriously accomplished through the 
sacrifice of Calvary, where all the principles of God's 
moral government centred in saving all who would 
comply with the heaven-originated arrangement that 
made salvation possible to all mankind, and eternally 
sure to those who would repent, believe, and obey the 
Divine requirements implied in the calling and salva- 



158 ON THE FOKEKNOWLEDGE OF GOD, 

tion of all predestinated in the text, according to 
the counsel and foreknowledge of God. In this dis- 
pensation of the glorious gospel of salvation, we see 
no eternal reprobation of sinners, as the result of 
" Divine Sovereignty," nor any eternal partiality by 
which saints were foreordained to immortal glory ; 
but we see the unchangeable principles of the Divine 
government carried forward in the glory of the 
Monarch, the splendors of the throne, and the rights 
of the subjects, in open opposition to all dark and de- 
plorable theories that tarnish Jehovah's character, and 
that make him the author of all the sin, suffering, and 
damnation in his dominions. 

In view, therefore, of the principles of predestination 
that we have unfolded, the only remaining difficulty 
concerning foreknowledge sufficient to puzzle the 
weakest theological mind is, that if the final destiny 
of the ungodly were individually known to God, it 
would be unreasonable, and even absurd to strive by 
his Spirit to save those that he foresaw would be finally 
damned, notwithstanding his gift of the Holy Ghost 
to save them, which would be in direct opposition to 
what his foreknowledge apprehended respecting their 
damnation. 

Now, however formidable this objection may appear 
at first sight, it nevertheless implies a contradiction ; 
for God can only see things according to their real 
philosophic order ; and can thus see no man in hell, 
until, in the nature of things, he sees him resisting the 
Spirit, transgressing the law, and neglecting or 



AND CALLING OF BELIEVERS. § 159 

refusing the means of recovery ; and to see him damned 
on any other principle, or by any other process, would 
be to see the end without the means to accomplish it, 
and would be a contradiction inapplicable to the God 
of everlasting consistency. The objection is then 
illogical, and contrary to the nature of cause and 
effect that regulates every scene and circumstance 
thoughout God's monarchy. Therefore, Scripture and 
reason will not justify us in believing that foreknow- 
ledge can identify any man with damnation, otherwise 
than the intermediate state embraces those proceed- 
ings that lead him there by the exercise of his own 
agency in wilful wickedness, that he had power to 
avoid. On these philosophic and scriptural principles, 
if God were to withhold the Holy Spirit from those 
that would be damned, that would make the sinner's 
salvation impossible by that deprivation ; for no man 
could be saved without the Holy Ghost, and it would 
set the Spirit and the atonement in contradictory op- 
position. For as Christ died for all, the Spirit must 
be given to all, to accomplish salvation for all who 
yield to be saved through faith in the, atoning sacri- 
fice ; therefore, the objection to our view of fore- 
knowledge is baseless, and passes away before the 
light of truth as clouds before the morning sun, when 
he spreads his flaming splendors on the eastern sky. 
We now triumphantly maintain that the influences of 
the Holy Spirit, the atonement of Christ, and the 
truths of the Bible, are full proof that God has no 
pleasure in the death of sinners : " Say unto them, As 



160 t ON THE FOREKNOWLEDGE OF GOD, 

I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the 
death of the wicked ; but that the wicked turn from 
his way and live." This God of unchangeable good- 
ness, O believer ! is thy God, and in faithful accord- 
ance with the principles of predestination that I have 
explained, will make all things work together for 
your good, because you love God. The roll of years, 
and the wreck of centuries, show the mutability of 
human plans, and the vanity of earth-born pretensions, 
but the counsel of God shall stand forever. The 
whole scheme of salvation is laid in infinite wisdom, 
and shall be perpetuated by everlasting strength. 
"We leave this part of the subject of foreknowledge 
and predestination, with the fullest assurance, that in 
the day of judgment, God shall show to all beholding 
worlds the outbeaming glory of those heaven-inspired 
truths on which we have expatiated, in vindication of 
infinite benevolence, that eternally excludes all pre- 
destinated cruelty to sinners and partiality to saints, 
on the unoriginated principles of eternal fairness ; and 
shall now explain the nature of that image of the Son 
of God to which we are predestinated, and are to be 
conformed. 

The image specified in the text cannot be the same 
as that recorded in the first chapter of the Epistle to 
the Hebrews, where it is said of the Son, that he is 
the " brightness" of the Father's " glory," and the 
" express image of his person." For there he is ex- 
hibited in the essential splendor of his existence, and 
could not therefore be that image that God the Father 



AND CALLING OF BELIEVERS. 



161 



will stamp on all his true followers. But the image 
to which we are called in the gospel, is that of per- 
fect holiness ; for in that Christ appeared in all his 
proceedings as our great Example. And as far as it 
is essential for fallen mortals to be conformed to the 
Image of Christ's holiness, the word of God, the plan 
of salvation, and the power of the Holy Ghost, 
through a living, active faith, in the sacrifice of 
Cavalry, are sufficient for the accomplishment of that 
experimental purpose. Adam and Eve lost the image 
of moral perfection through sin, and involved all man- 
kind in the ruins of a fallen nature, but now man may 
be restored to gospel perfection, and serve God with 
all his heart, as the plan of salvation implies, and the 
Bible requires of all the brethren, of whom Christ is the 
first-born. This, then, being admitted respecting the 
image to which as believers we are to be conformed, 
it is also essential to a full and fair explanation, that 
we show in what sense we are to understand the Son 
of God as the first-born among many brethren. 

Now we cannot surely understand the apostle in the 
text, as referring to what some denominate " the 
eternal Sonship of Christ," for in that respect, he could 
not be like unto his brethren, as none of them could 
be from eternity. The word first-born is mentioned 
in several places in the Sacred oracles, and is dif- 
ferently applied by the inspired authors. But when 
applied to Christ, it is always to be viewed in a pre- 
eminent sense, as meaning most excellent, most dis- 
tinguished, best beloved, or chief of all. On this 
11 



162 ON THE FOREKNOWLEDGE OF GOD, 

ground, he is called "the first-born of every creature;" 
and " the first-born among many brethren." He is 
the most excellent of all the principalities and powers, 
and has a "name which is above every name ; that at 
the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things 
in heaven, and things on earth, and things under the 
earth ; and that every tongue should confess, that 
Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." 

II. The calling, justification, and glorifica- 
tion OF THOSE COMPRISED IN THE PLAN OF SALVA- 
TION, ACCORDING TO THE PRINCIPLES OF PREDESTINA- 
TION REVEALED IN THE BlBLE. 

In the Divine oracles the word called is a common 
or familiar one. Moses, the great lawgiver of Israel, 
was called of God to go unto Pharaoh, king of Egypt, 
and demand the liberation of the Hebrews. Aaron 
was called to the Priesthood ; and Paul and others ■ 
were called to the apostleship. And Christians are 
called with a high and holy calling. God has various 
ways of calling sinners to repentance. But the chief 
method is by his word and Spirit. The Holy Ghost 
is given to every man to enlighten the moral darkness 
of his understanding, and to rouse him in a state of sin to 
a fearful consciousness of the coming wrath and fearful 
damnation that await him in a state of final impeni- 
tence, and to lead him to seek that change of his 
moral nature that makes him a new creature in Christ 
Jesijs. He also calls by his word, read or expounded. 
The Bible is a lamp to our feet, and a light to our 

■ ■ / , 



AND CALLING OF BELIEVERS. 163 

' '1 

path through the wilderness of this world. It is the 

great standard of moral action here, and of rewards 
and punishments hereafter. Those infidels who deny 
its inspiration, would be logically forced from their 
own premises to adopt the absurdity, that God has 
ushered into existence intelligent and immortal beings, 
without giving them any revelation of his will, or any 
prescribed course of obedience to himself as their 
Creator, Preserver, and rightful Sovereign. The 
kingdom of nature does' not afford that spiritual infor- 
mation that man requires, and, therefore, we should 
turn to the Bible, instead of offering our homage at 
the shrine of creation, which, without the Holy Spirit 
and Divine Eevelation, could never lead us to God 
and salvation. Well did Pollock say: "The Bible 
is the star of eternity, the only star with which to 
navigate the sea of life." Christ sayeth, "Search the 
Scriptures." And in his commission to the apostles, 
said: "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gos- 
pel to every creature. He that believeth and is bap- 
tized shall be saved ; but he that believeth not shall 
be damned." Here we see the great specialty of 
salvation and damnation hinged on believing and 
unbelieving. It is then faith in the word of God, 
through the merits of Christ, that makes the call of 
*God effectual to salvation ; and the want' of this faith 
in the Divine testimony, and in not appropriating the 
merits of the atonement to the soul, are the reasons 
why so few of the called are chosen to eternal life ; 
and not because of any predestination that uncondi- 



164 • ON THE FOREKNOWLEDGE OF GOD, 

tionally sealed their doom from all eternity. This is 
further evident where Christ said to the unbelieving 
Jews : " Except ye believe in me, ye shall die in your 
sins. He that believeth on the Son, hath everlasting 
life : and he that believeth*- not the Son, shall not see 
life ; but the wrath of God abideth on him." Now 
if it were impossible for any sinner, under the sound 
of the gospel, to believe in Christ for salvation, how 
could the wrath of God abide on him for not perform- 
ing an impossibility, and for not obeying the calling 
found in the text ? We rejoice that the cause of the 
damnation of those who would not obey the gospel 
calling, is not found in the counsel and foreknowlege 
of God, nor in the nature of predestination, but in the 
wilful refusal of sinners to comply with the means of 
election and reconciliation to God by the death of his 
Son. On this ground, of a free and full salvation for 
all mankind, Jehovah says: "Look unto me, and' be 
ye saved all the ends of the earth, for I am God, and 
there is none else." This passage crowns the climax 
of God's benevolence toward the whole human race ; 
and never could comport with any theological scheme 
of predestination, that would consign any man to end- 
less ruin without having previously the possibility of 
eternal life. This gospel calling, according to the 
incontestable explanation that we have given, settles 
the entire blame of damnation on the sinner's own 
head, and secures the eternal blessedness of all 
obedient believers in Christ. For "he became the 
author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey 



I 

AND CALLING OF BELIE VEKS. 165 

"him." He says : " My sheep hear my voice, and I 
know them, and they follow me : and I give unto 
them eternal life ; and they shall never perish, neither 
shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My 
Father which gave them me, is greater than all ; and 
no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's 
hand. I and my Father are one." Here we have the 
voice that calls, the obedient believers that follow, and 
the omnipotent power that upholds and saves all who 
are predestinated and called to salvation and glorifica- 
tion on the principles of final perseverance. 

But "whom he called, them he also justified." 
Justification, in a legal sense, is a work done for us, 
exonerating us from condemnation for the violation of 
law to which we are held accountable ; and may be 
denominated an " act of God's free grace, whereby he 
pardoneth all our sins, and accepteth us as righteous 
for the sake of Christ alone." But justification 
through' Christ, according to the gospel, widely differs 
from that obtained from any other source. If we 
commit an offence against a human government, and 
a legal process condemn us to suffer the penalty, the 
pardoning power can remit the punishment, and set us 
at liberty, but cannot take away the inward principle 
of rebellion ; and after obtaining pardon from the ex- 
ecutive, we might still be enemies of the government, 
and even embrace the first opportunity to break its laws. 
But when Grod justifies a sinner, he also changes^ his 
heart and makes him a friend of his moral government, 
and gives him the Holy Spirit to bear witness with 



166 ON THE FOKEKNOWLEDGE OF GOD, 

his spirit, that he is a child of God, and an heir of the 
kingdom of glory. This view of justification is fully 
established by Paul, in the fifth chapter of his Epistle 
to the Eomans, where it is said : " Being justified by 
faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus 
Christ : by whom also we have access by faith into 
this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the 
glory of God. And not only so, but we glory in 
tribulations also ; knowiDg that tribulation worketh 
patience ; and patience experience ; and experience 
hope : and hope maketh not ashamed ; because the 
love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy 
Ghost, which is given unto us." This, now, is the 
true Scripture justification, and iu possession of its 
blessed experience, we may grow in grace, and in the 
knowledge of God our Saviour, until we arrive at all 
that purity of heart specified by Christ, when he said : 
" Blessed are the pure in heart : for they shall see 
God." Now instead of these justified, or even sancti- 
fied ones being exalted to heaven by any abstract 
decree, foreknowledge, or eternal partiality, that 
elected them, and left others to perish, who might 
have been included in the covenant of mercy, they 
are commanded to make their calling and election 
sure ; and to stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ 
hath made them free. For sayeth the Lord Jehovah : 
" If any man draw back, my soul shall have no 
pleasure in him ;" which plainly proves the possibility 
of wrecking our eternal interests by unfaithfulness. 
But, notwithstanding this, all God's persevering 



AND CALLING OF BELIEVEKS. 167 

followers may joyfully exclaim with Paul and his 
associates: "But we are not of them who draw 
back to perdition ; but of them that believe to the 
saving of the soul." The next and only thing now to 
be explained, is the eternal glorification of the right- 
eous. For "whom he justified, them he also glorified." 
Now, according to the foregoing arguments, and Scrip- 
ture plan of salvation, we maintain that the eternal 
glorification of the saints stands connected with the 
same principles of probationary faithfulness that their 
Acceptance of the terms of salvation did, in the com- 
mencement of their spiritual career, which led to their 
justification, when they obeyed the gospel calling, 
and without which, they could not have been the sub- 
jects of saving grace here, nor heirs of glory hereafter. 
Glorification is, therefore, the result of faithfulness, in 
obedience to the gracious requirements of God on 
earth, and without which, no man could be admitted 
to the kingdom of glory in heaven. On these princi- 
ples we affirm, that the same plan of predestination 
that embraces the foreknowledge of God, the atone- 
ment of Christ, and the influences of the Holy Ghost, 
must also embrace the free agency and faithful perse- 
verance of saints, in relation to their passport to glory, 
honor, and immortality in the heaven of heavens, 
where God himself crowns the climax of eternal 

glorification. 

. # 



SERMON VI. 



THE DOCTRINE 

ENTIRE SANGUIFICATION, EEL ATI YE TO 
ITS PROOFS, AUTHOR, INSTRUMEN- 
TALITY, NATURE, AND EXTENT, 



" Sanctify them through thy truth : thy word is truth." 
John xvii. 17. - 

In these words Christ prayed to God the Father for 
the sanetification of his disciples. Sanetification, in 
the Bible, has a twofold meaning; first, to set apart 
for sacred purposes, and, secondly, to purify from all 
moral defilement. Isaiah sayeth : " Sanctify the Lord 
of hosts himself, and let him be your fear/ 7 that is, set 
him apart as the object of your spiritual adoration. 
And Christ said in relation to the work he had to per- 
form, "I sanctify myself.' 7 The apostles were sancti- 
fied, or set apart for the work of the ministry. But 
in their case, sanetification also implied a deliverance 
from all moral impurity. When called to the apostle- 
ship, they were surrounded with great ritoral darkness ; 
and notwithstanding the instruction given by their 
Divine Master, some of them remained in considerable 
(168) 



DOCTRINE OF ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION. 169 



ignorance, and comparatively in a low degree of 
spirituality, until the gospel dispensation was ushered 
in, on the day of Pentecost, when all but Judas received 
a renewal of their commission, and a baptism of the 
Holy Ghost that brought them a fulness of salvation, 
and ministerial qualifications, that comported with 
Christ's promise to endue them with power from on 
high, and to send the Comforter to abide with them 
forever. In the fulfilment of this promise they 
obtained an instantaneous sanctification that far sur- 
passed their former experience. Even Peter, who 
denied his Lord in the hour of personal danger, after- 
ward hailed with joy the apparatus of martyrdom^and 
died in triumph. On these principles the prayer of 
Christ for the apostles, fully implies the twofold mean- 
ing on which I have briefly expatiated ; and in further 
explanation of which, in its application to the purifica- 
tion of others, I shall, in the first place, exhibit the 
Scriptural evidence by which the doctrine of entire 
sanctification may be established ; and secondly, the 
Author, Instrumentality, and Nature of sanctification. 

I. Exhibit the Scripture evidence, by which 

THE DOCTRINE OF ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION MAY BE 
ESTABLISHED. 

1. By Divine Commands. Jehovah said to 
Abraham, " Walk before me, and be thou perfect." 
Moses said, " Hear, O Israel, the Lord thy God is one 
Lord ; and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all * 
thine heart, and with all thy soul." Christ said to his dis- 



170 DOCTRINE OF ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION. 

ciples, Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father 
which is in heaven is perfect." And Peter enjoined, 
" But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy 
in all manner of conversation." Jehovah himself saith, 
" Be ye holy ; for I am holy." These passages show 
the extent of holiness that it is our duty and privi- 
lege to enjoy. And as Jehovah would not command an 
impossibility, we may therefore seek and obtain the pu- 
rity that he has enjoined ; and according to the doctrine 
of St. James, "be perfect and entire, wanting nothing." 

2. By Promises. Moses said, "and the Lord thy 
God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy 
seed, to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, 
and with all thy soul." The Psalmist says, " God will 
redeem Israel from all his iniquities." And Ezekiel, 
in proclaiming the great promise of God said, " Then 
will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be 
clean from all your nlthiness, and from all your idols 
will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, 
and a new spirit will I put within you ; and I will 
take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will 
give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit 
within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes." 
Christ said, " Blessed are the pure in heart ; for they 
shall see God." Peter saith, "Whereby are given 
unto us exceeding great and precious promises ; that 
by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature." 
And Paul says, "Having therefore these promises, 
dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all nlthi- 
ness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the 



RELATIVE TO ITS PROOFS, AUTHOR, ETC. 171 

fear of God." We now ask, is it possible for entire 
holiness to be more plainly promised than . in these 
passages of Holy Scripture ? And as all the promises 
of God, in Christ, " are yea, and in him amen, " we 
may therefore believe and receive all the sanctiflcation 
that he has promised, to make us happy here, and to 
prepare us for crowns and thrones of glory hereafter. 

3. By Prayers. David prayed, " Create in me a 
clean heart, God." Creation, in the Bible, has two 
significations ; first, to bring into existence that which 
had no existence before ; and secondly, to form that 
anew which already exists in a state contrary to the 
original formation. In this last sense the Psalmist 
wished and earnestly prayed for the creation of his 
heart in righteousness and true holiness ; and if he had 
not believed in the possibility of enjoying that for 
which he prayed, he surely would not have evinced 
such hypocrisy, as to pray to his Maker for the per- 
formance of an impossibility. But the prayer of Christ 
in the text for the sanctiflcation of his followers, is 
positive proof that there may be a reception of that 
purification for which he prayed. 

Paul said to the Ephesians : u For this cause I bow 
my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is 
named, that he would grant you, according to the 
riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by 
his spirit in the inner man ; that Christ may dwell in 
your hearts by faith ; that ye, being rooted and 
grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with 



172 DOCTRINE OF ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION, 

all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, 
and height; and to know the love of Christ, which 
passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all 
the fulness of God." O, what an overwhelming ful- 
ness of salvation is here expressed, as the present 
privilege of all true believers in Christ Jesus ! Paul 
also, in praying for the Thessalonians, said : "And 
the very God. of peace sanctify you wholly: and I 
pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be 
preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord 
Jesus Christ. Faithful is he that calleth you, who 
also will do it." Now to assert that we cannot be 
sanctified until death, would make this prayer absurd 
and contradictory ; for the apostle not only prays to 
sanctify them wholly, but to preserve them in that 
state, and also pledges the faithfulness of God for the 
accomplishment of that purpose, which totally de- 
stroys the doctrine that we must necessarily wait for 
entire purification to the hour of death. And as it 
will be easily admitted that the members of the 
Church of Thessalonica were generally in a justified 
state, when the prayer of Paul was offered for their 
sanctification, it follows that both were not received 
at the same time. And though we freely admit all 
the joy of salvation and hope of glory implied in a 
Scriptural justification, we, nevertheless, maintain the 
necessity of a distinct work of entire sanctification ; 
not, however, distinct in nature from the grace of justi- 
fication, but in the time of its reception, and in the 
great amount of purification received in the destruction 



RELATIVE TO ITS PROOFS, AUTHOR, ETC. 173 

of all moral defilement, causing its possessor to rejoice 
in the well-known fulness of gospel salvation far 
above his former experience, and the experience of 
those who are only converted and slowly growing in 
grace. For notwithstanding all the peace and joy 
and hope of justified believers, there might be a 
depth of unsanctified nature within them, that their 
own knowledge and the purifying power of the Holy 
Ghost had not yet reached ; and, therefore, whatever 
extent of grace might be received in conversion, none 
should profess that they are entirely sanctified, until 
the Spirit of God would impart the witness. " The 
Spirit searcheth all things ; yea, the deep things of 
God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, 
save the spirit of man which is in him ? even so the 
things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. 
Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, 
but the Spirit which is of God ; that we might know 
the things that are freely given to us of God." If, 
then, perfect holiness be a free gift of God, as we 
belieye it is, " for by grace are ye saved through faith ; 
and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God ;" it 
incontrovertibly follows, that the Holy Spirit can wit- 
ness, in the soul of a believer, the amount of salvation 
given by God the Father, through Jesus Christ his 
Son. For if the Spirit of God testifies in the heart 
and conscience of a sinner that he is guilty and con- 
demned by the law, and assures a justified believer 
that his sins are pardoned and his soul converted, and 
convinces a minister of the sanctuary that he is 



174 DOCTRINE OF ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION; 

divinely called to preach the gospel, on what princi- 
ple could the witness of the Holy Ghost be withheld 
from the great work of sanctification ? I know no 
argument founded on Scripture and reason, to prove 
that Jehovah would refuse the direct witness when all 
moral depravity was destroyed, and when that witness 
would gloriously crown the great triumph of experi- 
mental Christianity in the souls of sanctified believers. 

4. By Examples. Enoch was so purified by Divine 
grace, that he walked with God three hundred years, 
and had a testimony that he pleased God. And what 
shall we say of the holiness of Abel, Abraham, Moses, 
Samuel, Elijah, Job, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, 
Simeon, John, Stephen, Paul, and a host of others in 
the old and new dispensations, some of whom would 
surely prove the power of God to save to the utter- 
most, according to the heaven-originated scheme of 
salvation ? And while our faith may be strengthened 
in the doctrine of perfect holiness by the commands, 
promises, prayers, and examples on record, we may con- 
fidently believe, that as the light of the glorious gospel 
shines more brightly on the Church now, than in any 
former age of the world, there are many living wit- 
nesses of entire sanctification. Surely, there is nothing 
in instantaneous sanctification to stagger our faith or 
confound our reason ; for if Satan had power, through 
the sin of our first parents, to instantaneously efface 
from their souls the image of God, that consisted in 
righteousness and true holiness, we might, therefore, 
easily believe that according to the gospel scheme of 



EELATIVE TO ITS PROOFS, AUTHOR, ETC. 175 

salvation in Christ Jesus, Omnipotence could instan- 
taneously restore that image, and enable us to triumph 
over all moral evil in experience and practice. There 
has been a great deal written on sanctification, and 
many opposite opinions have been advanced by con- 
troversialists while endeavoring to maintain their dif- 
ferent theories. But whatever may be approved or 
condemned in human performances, it is vastly im- 
portant to have the work of holiness perfected in our 
own souls. JSTo well' regulated controversies, critical 
disquisitions, or orthodox articles, can be a substitute 
for purity of heart. And wherein human productions 
may be considered instrumental in the attainment and 
perpetuation of holiness, we may profitably avail our- 
selves of such helps, but must, nevertheless, lay the 
great stress on the Book of God, and the power of the 
Holy Ghost. 

II. The Author. Instrumentality, and Nature 
of Sanctification. 

1. The Author. Jehovah the Father is the great 
Author of sanctification to whom the Son prayed for 
the apostles ; and to him, all who wish the purifica- 
tion of their hearts must look. For he saith : " Look 
unto me, and be saved, all the ends of the earth ; for 
I am God, and there is none else." There is no other 
source from whence holiness can be derived ; and all 
pretensions to the experience of salvation from secon- 
dary causes, as substitutes for the great Original, 
will be as sliding sand and yielding air ; and will at 



176 DOCTRINE OF ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION, 

last leave their votaries in spiritual darkness. This 

is so plainly obvious in the Holy Scriptures, that it is 
truly astonishing that any should trust for spiritual 
safety in any thing but the Lord Jehovah. But, how- 
ever others may diverge from the soul-saving foun- 
tain of eternal goodness, the true believer, who 
is sincerely seeking the entire sanctification of his 
soul, will easily admit all that we have said concern- 
ing the unbounded Author of sanctification ; and 
therefore, without any further exemplification of this 
essential doctrine of our holy Christianity, we will 
explain the scriptural arrangement through which 
Jehovah imparts full salvation. 

2. The Instrumentality of Sanctification. Christ 
sayeth : " Sanctify them through thy truth : thy word 
is truth," and also says : " Ye shall know the truth, 
and the truth shall make you free." Paul, in writing 
to the Thessalonians, says : " God hath from the be- 
ginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification 
of the Spirit, and belief of the truth." "We here see 
the great stress that is laid on the truth in the accom- 
plishment of our salvation. It ought to be distinctly 
understood, that the Grod of truth can never make 
falsehood a means of doing good, for that would be 
un philosophic, and contrary to the real nature of 
cause and effect. And though he can overrule and 
counteract falsehood by the truth that he employs, 
and the energy that he exerts, yet a lie, from its own 
nature, must always tend to ' evil consequences ; and 
we should therefore, under all circumstances, and in 



RELATIVE TO ITS PROOFS, AUTHOR, ETC. 177 

opposition to all false principles, come at once to the 
great system of truth, revealed in the Bible, as the 
only infallible instrumentality that leads, through 
faith in Jesus Christ, to the unoriginated source of sal- 
vation. Faith in the word of truth, or testimony of 
Jehovah, is capable of performing wonders in the 
kingdom of grace, as it has often done in the king- 
dom of nature. Through faith, the ancients " sub- 
dued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained 
promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the 
violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of 
weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, 
turned to flight the armies of the aliens." And if, 
through faith in the Divine testimony, the chief of 
sinners found pardon and acceptance, those who are 
now groaning for full deliverance from all inward de- 
filement, need not stagger at the promise of God 
through unbelief, but may plunge at once into the 
fountain opened for sin and uneleanness, and become 
a white as snow in Salmon." The truth of the atone- 
ment, as exhibited in the Bible, has sufficient efficacy 
to save the vilest of the vile who come to God for 
salvation ; and all who earnestly believe in God's 
method of saving sinners, should practice on the prin- 
ciple, that "now is the accepted time, behold, now is 
the day of salvation." From these considerations, un- 
sanctifled believers should acknowledge that God is 
not only able to save to the uttermost, but that he is 
able and willing to save now. There is not a theo- 
logian on earth that can offer any valid argument in 
12 



178 DOCTRINE OF ENTIRE SASTCTIFICATIOK, 

favor of the sanctification of the soul at any future 
time, that would not apply more forcibly for its entire 
purification now. And as the Word of God forbids 
all procrastination, we urge believers in the most un- 
limited sense of experimental righteoususs, to ask and 
receive, that their joy may be full. And, to crown 
the climax of all sayings concerning the greatness of 
experimental religion in all its gospel fulness, we de- 
clare with Paul, that God " is able to do exceeding 
abundantly above all that we ask or think, according 
to the power that worketh in us," and with him ex- 
claim, a Unto him be glory in the church, by Christ 
Jesus, throughout all ages, world without end." Here, 
then, we have a fulness of salvation which far surpasses 
all sanctification ; for that means to be made holy or 
pure in heart, and amounts to the sanctification asked, 
believed, and experienced — but God is gloriously able 
still to do far above all that we ask or even think, 
according to the power that worketh in us. And this 
leaves us not only in possession of a Scriptural 
demonstration of the doctrine of perfect holiness, but 
of an experience of the fulness of salvation, and the 
love of God in the soul, to an indescribable extent 
that no cold-hearted theorist can ever explain away. 

3. The Nature of Sanctification. "We have already 
glanced at its true scriptural character, but shall now 
define more particularly its real instantaneous nature, 
in opposition to all contrary notions, which keep their 
Votaries in comparative spiritual darkness. Sanctifi- 
cation implies to be saved from sin, and to be purified 



RELATIVE TO ITS PROOFS, AUTHOR, ETC. 179 

by the power of the Holy Ghost from all moral con- 
tamination ; for where any moral evil remains in the 
soul, it would be improper to say that it is wholly 
sanctified. And as sanctification is a Divine work, 
Jehovah can as effectually purify the whole soul in a 
moment, as he could effect a partial sanctification, or 
accomplish the work by slow degrees. If our faith 
in the soul-saving efficacy of the sacrifice of Calvary 
is sufficiently strong, we may, at any moment, obtain 
the fulness of the gospel blessing. For as the un- 
changeable God is as able and willing now, as he ever 
will be, we should at once believe, and be saved from 
all unrighteousness. 

And as this salvation is a gracious work, effected 
by the most high God, without any righteousness of 
our own to induce him to manifest himself to us, we 
should come "boldly to the throne of grace," in ac- 
cordance with his invitation, knowing that no pro- 
crastination, or human training, can bring us in 
possession of a greater preparation for the blessing 
than we now have ; and we should therefore receive 
sanctification at the present time, as a free gift of God. 
We are too apt to believe that we will obtain the 
blessing some time hence ; but the longer we defer 
its reception, the harder it will be to obtain it, as the 
principle of procrastination will grow stronger by 
continuance, and the habits of postponement will ac- 
cumulate upon us — and there is great danger of 
arriving at the conclusion that there is no instantane- 
ous sanctification to be experienced, and that we must 



180 DOCTRINE OF ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION", 

progress in oar Christian career to the hour of death 
without its soul-saving fulness, or knowing, by the 
witness of the Spirit, that we are sanctified. Grow- 
ing up after perfection, is a different thing, in some 
respects, from the sanctiflcation for which I here con- 
tend, and to which I urge all that are truly converted 
to God, but who are not yet made entirely holy. It 
is our blessed privilege, after we are sanctified, to 
grow in grace and in the knowledge of God our 
Saviour, and in the constant exercise of our powers 
to approximate in endless progression toward the ab- 
solute source of perfection. But this is somewhat 
different from growing in grace before we are sanc- 
tified. In the one case, moral impurity retards our 
progress, but in the other the soul is untrammeled, 
and can grow abundantly more in grace than before 
we received the great blessing of sanctiflcation. We 
may be well assured, that neither the actual existence 
of sin, nor the moral contamination of the soul, to 
any extent, is essential to a growth in grace; and 
therefore, to tell an unsanctified believer to grow up 
by degrees after the destruction of moral evil, would 
be an unwarrantable heresy, when all moral impurity 
could be destroyed now, only for our unbelief that 
prevents the blessing. 

This, then, brings us to the real, instantaneous na- 
ture of sanctiflcation, and to the true principles of 
religious progression, according to the Divine oracles, 
around which all our arguments must cluster, in op- 
position to all the baseless speculations that formalists, 



EELATIVE TO ITS PROOFS, AUTHOR, ETC. 161 

Pharisees, and weak believers can bring. Amidst the 
theological theories now extant, it is difficult for some 
to form settled and correct opinions of the great doc- 
trines of holiness; and while many are puzzled with 
the contradictory notions found in clerical contro- 
versies, I consider it the safest way for them to settle 
down on Scripture and reason. And as reason, under 
the influence of the Holy Ghost, is the faithful ex- 
positor of the Bible, we should believe no explanation 
of sanctiflcation that reason and revelation would not 
justify. Elaborate works on plain Christian holiness 
often puzzle rather than profit the readers ; for there 
is such a laborious round of explanation in some pon- 
derous volumes, that the unsophisticated mind shrinks 
from the unprofitable task of encumbering the un- 
derstanding with a mysterious mass of theological 
elements on such a plain subject as purity of heart. 
And I am led to believe that Mr. Wesley's Tract, or 
" Plain Account of Christian Perfection," is the best 
human production published on sanctification. And 
I deliberately contend, that the Methodist Episcopal 
Church should never suffer the true scriptural doc- 
trine of that tract to be pushed out of its plain path 
by any heterogeneous mass of theological materials, 
brought forth by others, either for pecuniary or 
ecclesiastical purposes; and who might be satisfied 
with very superficial attainments in their religious 
experience, and be mere babes, when they ought to 
have arrived at the stature of men in Christ Jesus, 
having all unrighteousness destroyed by the mighty 



182 DOCTRINE OF ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION. 



baptism of the Holy Ghost, and be capacitated to grow 
up constantly toward eternal perfection, in the heaven 
of heavens, where all who enter that bright realm 
shall have a blessedness commensurate with the ca- 
pacity of their existence, the extent of their improve- 
ment, and the amount of gospel holiness. There, 
those who experienced the fulness of perfect love, 
preached by Mr. "Wesley, shall shine as stars of the 
first magnitude. The church suffers great loss, when 
the doctrine of entire sanctification is not proclaimed 
from her highest battlements. Holiness, on its high- 
est tower, stands as a heaven-kindled beacon on the 
isthmus of time, to point out a glorious passage to 
the harbor of eternity. 

Jehovah saith : " ye are my witnesses" and there- 
fore all his true* followers should take a rejoicing 
interest in bearing testimony to the truth. No worldly 
prudence, fear of persecution, or confrontation of error, 
should make us silent on this great subject, which is 
so intimately connected with the glory of God and 
the welfare of the world. I may now be personally 
permitted to proclaim, that I unflinchingly stand on 
the Wesleyan doctrine of sanctification, as I have 
ever stood since my conversion to God, through 
Christ Jesus, by the power of the Holy Ghost. And 
though I have believed in a greater amount of inward 
holiness, in justified believers, than some good breth- 
ren seemed to do, and could not admit the explanations 
of some concerning the state of sanctification, I have 
nevertheless unchangeably believed that whenever 



RELATIVE TO ITS PROOFS, AUTHOR, ETC. 183 

there was airy moral impurity in the soul, it was the 
privilege of a true believer in Christ, to have it instan- 
taneously destroyed at any moment by the power of 
the God of salvation. And I am now so firmly 
grounded in this faith, that if all the men on earth 
were to write books to the contrary, they would 
appear to me, with all their purblind wisdom, as an 
ignus fatuus whose vaporing vacillations float in 
empty air, and at last leaves its beholders in the mists 
of deeper darkness. 

But though it will be generally admitted that holi- 
ness is a doctrine of the Bible, and essential to eternal 
glorification in heaven, some will nevertheless differ 
from my views of its instantaneous reception, and still 
cling to their favorite theories, which, if not sufficiently 
overthrown, may lead others astray, who are willing 
to inquire for the old paths, and to walk therein. 
And as all their notions of sanctiflcation may be re- 
solved into one of three theories, I shall give each of 
the three an explanation, and let the whole stand or 
fall by Scripture, reason, and experience. 

First. It has been asserted, that justification and 
sanctiflcation are accomplished, when the soul is con- 
verted to God, and if any thing afterward is found in 
the soul contrary to holiness, it is because of unfaith- 
fulness after conversion. Now in opposition to this 
view, we would not limit the Holy One of Israel, nor 
assert that it is impossible for God to justify and 
sanctify the soul of a believer in Christ at the same 
time ; but we nevertheless maintain that this is not his 



184 DOCTRINE OF ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION, 

usual manner, as specified in the Bible, and as proven 

by the general experience of Christians. 

To make justification and sanctification the same 
thing, or both at the same moment, would involve 
the inspired writers in the charge of unwarrantable 
carelessness in making such different statements con- 
cerning them, if they both meant the same thing pre- 
cisely ; and would expose their productions to 
animadversion ; and therefore, in avoiding such censure, 
we must contend for the proper distinction between 
the two states of religious experience. We hold that 
Paul was addressing justified believers when he prayed 
that the very God of peace might sanctify them wholly. 
And if he believed that both states were the same, his 
prayer was an unwarrantable extra in asking Jehovah 
for what they then possessed. 

In the converted or justified soul, the kingdom of 
God may be compared to a mustard-seed, which was 
one of the smallest of all seeds, as it was in applica- 
tion to the onward progress of Christianity by Christ 
himself from its commencement ; and on that principle 
of experimental diminutiveness applied to actual babe- 
ship in religion, how can such a state of justification 
be properly compared to that extent of salvation 
specified in various parts of the sacred oracles, and 
gloriously proclaimed by Ezekiel, Joel, Paul, and 
others ? Surely the mustard-seed quantity \of grace 
in the commencement of the kingdom of righteousness, 
did not amount to the heart-cleansing power experi- 
enced on the day of Pentecost, when the baptism of 



EELATIVE TO ITS PKOOFS, AUTHOE ; ETC. 185 

holy fire was poured out so profusely on the apostles, 
and prior to which there is demonstrable evidence 
that some of them were not entirely sanctified. But 
in opposition to this, it may be stated that some in 
conversion receive far more grace than the mustard- 
seed would spiritually imply, and therefore may be 
also entirely sanctified. Now without denying the 
larger degree of grace that some receive in justification, 
in comparison with what some others obtain ; or dis- 
puting the power of God to sanctify the soul at that 
time, we would assert, that if such persons had the 
witness in their own souls, of the truth of their 
sanctification at the moment of conversion, we could 
then but view them as mere exceptions to the 
general experience and testimony of others who firmly 
believe, and even know, that they were not wholly 
sanctified in conversion, from the whole amount of 
their unholy nature. On this ground, the oracles of 
God and the general experience of Christians, would 
have to regulate us at last in proving that justification 
and entire sanctification are not theologically and ex- 
perimentally the same. And though some do, from 
the nature of their capacity, the strength of their faith, 
and the gift of the Holy Ghost, receive more grace in 
conversion than others, and may declare that justifica- 
tion is a great work wrought in us by the Almighty, 
when our sins are pardoned, yet that would form no 
real objection to the doctrine of the entire purity of 
our nature from all moral contamination. For there 
might still be a depth of depravity in their souls, to 



186 DOCTRINE OF ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION, 

which their own knowledge and the sanctifying power 
of the Holy Ghost may not have reached ; and it 
would not be proper to profess entire sanctification 
until the Divine Spirit would clearly testify to their 
deliverance from all moral impurity. And if they 
did not receive that witness at the time of conversion, 
it would be improper to rely on any other evidence, 
or to state that they were justified and sanctified at 
the same moment ; so this theory will not stand the 
test of sound Scriptural and experimental investiga- 
tion. 

Secondly. But some affirm that sanctification is a 
progressive work until the hour of dissolution. Now, 
however plausible this theory may appear to those 
who do not bring themselves sufficiently to the heart- 
cleansing power of the Holy Ghost ; it is nevertheless 
more indefensible than the former one, to which we 
have so strenuously objected. For it proceeds on the 
principle, that it necessarily requires our whole future 
life for the performance of a work that Jehovah can 
accomplish in a moment, if we believe on his Son for 
full salvation ; while the first theory would neither 
limit the power of God to any progressive process, nor 
procrastinate entire sanctification to any future time, this 
one would do both, and tamely proceed on principles 
diametrically opposed to the Bible, which sayeth to the 
full extent of gospel perfection, "now is the day of 
salvation;" and would also make the language of St. 
Paul to the Thessalonians absolutely foolish, where 
he says : "And the very God of peace sanctify you 



RELATIVE TO ITS PROOFS, AUTHOR, ETC. 187 



wholly ; and I pray God your whole spirit, and soul, 
and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of 
our Lord Jesus Christ ;" and he adds : " Faithful is 
he that calleth you, who also will do it." Now, if this 
sanctiflcation of soul, body, and spirit, could not be 
experienced until death, then the prayer of Paul to 
preserve the Thessalonian saints blameless must have 
had its application after death, and according to that, 
Paul prayed for the clead, which would be both false 
and foolish. We may then see that his prayer em- 
braced those to be sanctified and preserved before 
death ; and he pledged the faithfulness of God that it 
would be done. And we should give no explanation 
of sanctiflcation that would implicate the wisdom and 
purity of the apostle, or induce professors of religion 
to expect, at death, what God is willing to bestow now, 
through faith in Jesus Christ his Son. 

o 

Thirdly. Others believe that sanctiflcation is an in- 
stantaneous work, and that we may be sanctified 
now, and receive the Holy Spirit to witness this 
great work in our souls. This is the only theory of 
entire sanctiflcation that can fairly comport with the 
power and goodness of God in the plan of salvation, 
as revealed in the Bible. The whole gospel scheme 
of salvation proceeds on holiness to the Lord ; and 
if there is any thing in our hearts or lives contrary to 
righteousness and true holiness, we may believe and 
be saved. Mr. Wesley, in speaking of the work of 
sanctiflcation in England and Ireland, and of the 
numbers who professed to be sanctified, says: "Not 



188 DOCTRINE OF ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION, 

trusting in the testimony of others, I carefully exam- 
ined most of them myself; and in London alone, I 
found six hundred and fifty-two members of our 
society, who were exceedingly clear in their experi- 
ence, and of whose testimony I could see no reason to 
doubt. I believe no year has passed since that time, 
wherein God has not wrought the same work in many 
others ; but, sometimes in one part of England or 
Ireland, sometimes in another ; and every one of these 
has declared that his deliverance from sin was instan- 
taneous ; that the change was wrought in a moment. 
Had half of these, or one third, or one in twenty de- 
clared it was gradually wrought in them, I should 
have believed this with regard to them, and thought 
that some were gradually sanctified and some instanta- 
neously. But as I have not found, in so long a space 
of time, a single person speaking thus, as all who 
believe they are sanctified, declare, with one voice, 
that the change was wrought in a moment, I cannot 
but believe that sanctification is commonly, if not 
always, an instantaneous work." In this extract, from 
the pen and truth of Mr. "Wesley, we have a glorious 
testimony in favor of the doctrine that my sermon is 
designed to establish ; and Methodists ought to rejoice 
that their great forerunner had such clear views, and 
recorded so many witnesses of (rod's power to save to 
the uttermost, by instantaneous sanctification. And 
instead of opposing this glorious doctrine, or stopping 
short of its blessed enjoyment, each should, with 
heartfelt sincerity and mighty faith, exclaim with the 



RELATIVE TO ITS PROOFS, AUTHOR, ETC. 189 

Psalmist : " Save now, I beseech thee, l!ord !" And 
as the light of Divine truth is to shine brighter to the 
perfect day, and as this is a most glorious age of the 
world for the triumph of gospel grace, it is reasonable 
to believe that there are now, in Christendom, many 
burning and shining lights of full salvation from 
actual sin and moral contamination. Preachers of the 
new and everlasting covenant have a fine field for 
further prosperity, in urging on " the sacramental host 
of God's elect," to all the length and breadth, and 
depth and height, of the love of God,- that passeth 
knowledge, so that' the Church may, in her ministers 
and members, be filled with all that fulness of sancti- 
fication that is implied in the great and precious 
promises to Jews and Gentiles. Then, the flowery 
vanities of fashion, and the flesh-pleasing pleasures 
of sin, will appear as evanescent as " the sunbeam that 
sports on the morning cloud ;" and the riches, honors, 
and pleasures of this world will be as nothing, in com- 
parison with the love of God and hope of heaven that 
the rack, the scaffold, and the stake could not destroy. 

We now settle clown on the doctrine of instanta- 
neous sanctiflcation with a confidence as unshaken as 
the everlasting mountains ; and though, like all other 
degrees of soul-saving grace, it is progressively 
sought, yet it is obtained in a moment, and its recep- 
tion confirmed by the witness of the Holy Spirit, 
through whose active agency, and the exercise of faith 
in Christ, the soul can be kept pure until its passport 
to a glorious immortality, where the indwelling of the 



190 DOCTRINE OF ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION,? 

same Spirit- shall be a source of unspeakable joy 
through eternal ages. The Holy Ghost, that effects 
this great work of holiness in the hearts of believers 
now, and the Divine evidence of which some deny, 
dwelt in the Church in the days of Abraham, Isaac, 
and Jacob, and, therefore, we are preaching no new 
doctrine of spiritual influence. For at that early age 
of the world Jehovah manifested himself to his wor- 
shippers, as the nature of that dispensation required, 
when there was no written revelation ; and down 
through a series of centuries the Divine Spirit led on 
true believers until a fuller revelation was ushered in 
upon the world. Moses and others wrote under im- 
mediate inspiration : " For the prophecy came not in 
old time by the will of man ; but holy men of God 
spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." This 
inspiration led ages and generations to wait through 
faith for the coming Messiah, who was to be "a light 
to the Gentiles," and for " salvation unto the end of the 
earth." And though he came as the great harbinger 
of the new dispensation, that would continue to the 
end of time, the Holy Ghost was, nevertheless, abso- 
lutely essential to the efficiency of the ministry of the 
apostles, that Christ's personal presence enabled him 
outwardly to select for the great work assigned them ; 
and after the ascension of the Great Apostle and High 
Priest of our profession, the Holy Spirit, the promised 
Comforter, was to descend in large measure upon the 
disciples, and enable them to fearlessly and fully pro- 
claim the truth. 



RELATIVE TO ITS PROOFS, AUTHOR, ETC. 191 

If, therefore, the Holy Ghost was so important in 
patriarchal, Jewish, and apostolic times, it plainly 
follows, that the same Divine agent can' never be 
safely dispensed with in any other period of the 
Church. Without this influence what would all the 
pretensions, instrumentalities, and arrangements of 
the various denominations accomplish ? All, devoid 
of this, would be as sliding sand and yielding air. 
We, however, greatly rejoice that the doctrine of the 
necessity of Divine influence in the Church has main- 
tained such an ascendency, that ministers of the gos- 
pel who take upon them the vows of the sanctuary 
are required to declare themselves moved by the Holy 
Ghost to the office and work of the ministry. 

It would, indeed, be a dark day in Christendom, if 
ministers would be officially authorized to preach 
without a call and qualification from God the Spirit. 
The Church of Christ is not an organization for 
temporary purposes or particular notions, but is de- 
signed by the Most High to exist throughout all ages 
for the welfare of the world, and should therefore 
never depart from her primitive and heaven-inspired 
principles of righteousness and true holiness, for the 
substitution of what worldly men would call expedi- 
ency, progress, and proper embellishment, to attract 
attention, and to suit a time-serving policy. And 
whatever learning, eloquence, and auxiliary acquire- 
ments ministers of Christ might have, and which 
would be important in their place, nothing could 
afford a proper substitute for the indwelling power of 



192 DOCTRINE OF ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION, 

the Holy Ghost, in carrying forward the salvation of 
the world, through the sacrifice of Calvary. 

But white we have maintained the necessity of the 
influence of the Spirit in the hearts of God ? s ancient 
followers, and its vast importance in calling and 
qualifying the ministers for the efficient preaching of 
the gospel, it must also be established, that without 
its inward influence there can be no pure spirituality 
in the membership, or entire sanctification of the soul ; 
and on this principle, we may plainly see the" real 
nature of the experience of those who deny the witness 
of the Spirit and the joys of salvation ; and even of 
those who have the first fruits of the Spirit, but 
refuse to believe the possibility of enjoying the bless- 
ing of entire sanctification until the hour of death. 
If the whole Church professed and possessed gospel 
perfection, she would soon be "terrible as an army 
with banners," against the idolatry and soul-damning 
wickedness of the world ; and over which Satan pre- 
sides with his hellish effrontery. Gospel salvation is 
the panacea of the world, and must be received by 
sinners or they must be everlastingly ruined. And, 
lamentable to record! the lukewarm state of the 
Church, in many of her professed ministers and mem- 
bers, is instrumental in forwarding sinners on the 
way to hell, when throughout all her departments she 
ought to be alluring them on the way to heaven. But 
"the carnal mind is enmity against God ; for it is not 
subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be." 
A sinner's mind is dark and bewildered by sin and 



EELATIVE TO ITS PROOFS, AUTHOR, ETC. 193 

Satan, and must be enlightened by the Spirit of God, 
as a preparatory process for the reception of pure re- 
ligion. His conscience must also be alarmed and 
roused from its slumbers, and nothing but the Divine 
Spirit can accomplish these results. A minister may 
" cry aloud and spare not." He may smite with the 
hand, and stamp with the foot, and say, " alas ! for all 
the evil abominations ;" but if the Spirit refuse its 
influence, the sinner will sleep on ; and as nothing un- 
holy can enter heaven, it demonstrably follows that 
a change must be effected in his moral nature, or he 
must be shut out from the society of the blessed in 
heaven. No angelic or human power can, in any 
wise, accomplish the salvation of an immortal soul. 
All outward ceremonies, clerical proceedings, and 
purgatorial anticipations, substituted for the inward 
power of God, would be deleterious in their nature, 
ruinous in their tendency, and damning in their 
ultimatum. Nothing but the heart-changing and 
sanctifying power of Divine grace, could afford a well- 
grounded hope of eternal glory for a sin-sick soul, or 
make it rejoice in God its Saviour. But whatever 
Satanic influence may rest on the minds of the ungodly 
or deluded professors of religion, true believers can 
joyfully exclaim, "The Spirit itself beareth witness 
with our spirit, that we are the children of God. 
Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with 
God through our Lord Jesus Christ ; by whom also 
we have access by faith into this grace wherein we 
stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God." 
13 



194 DOCTRINE OF ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION, 

Now, this Spirit, that enlightens the mind, alarms 
the conscience, and converts the soul, is also the infi- 
nite Agent in its full sanctification. On the neces- 
sity of holiness of heart and life, as a qualification for 
heaven, the gospel is very explicit. If it fell short of 
this, it would be actually inferior to the soul-saving 
power experienced in patriarchal times ; for Enoch 
walked with God three hundred years, and had a 
testimony that he pleased God ; and was so purified 
that he was transmitted to heaven, without passing- 
through the process of natural death, where so many 
seem to expect salvation. Death would have had no 
terrors for him, for instead of meeting him as a devour- 
ing enemy he would have hailed him as a messenger 
of triumph, as would all the sanctified followers of 
Jesus Christ at this age of the Church, when called to 
change this world for the heaven of heavens, where 
unnumbered millions surround the throne, and shine 
as the stars forever and ever in the kingdom of their 
Father. 

Here, now, without overleaping the limits of the 
Bible, concerning the invisible world, we may make 
a few concluding remarks on the glorious home of 
all the saints, where the universal Monarch resides in 
unspeakable splendor, as the unoriginated object of 
all spiritual adoration. And though, from the 
uncircumscribed nature of his existence, he must fill 
immensity, there is no other place of which we read 
where he displays such transcendent glory as in the 
glorious abode of saints and angels. There he dwells 



KELATIVE TO ITS PROOFS, AUTHOR, ETC. 195 

in every intelligence, and unites to himself, as the cen- 
tre of happiness, all his worshippers. 'No acts of 
adoration are performed around the throne above, 
without being inspired and actuated by the same eter- 
nal Spirit that now dwells in the hearts of all the 
sanctified Church below. And as the joys of salvation 
arise from the indwelling power and abiding witness 
of the Holy Ghost here, so shall that same Spirit, as 
an unfailing fountain of joy, constitute, in its inex- 
haustible fulness, the highest degree of happiness in 
the glories of an eternal hereafter ; and for the enjoy- 
ment of which, the sanctiflcation that Christ prayed 
for in the text will be an endless qualification. 

" Now the God of peace that brought again from 
the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the 
sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, 
make you perfect in every good work to do his will, 
working in you that which is well pleasing in his 
sight, through Jesus Christ ; to whom be glory forever 
and ever. Amen." 



SEEMON VII. 



THE 

XI O R jY T, L A. "W, 

ESTABLISHED BY 

FAITH IN CHRIST. 



"Do we then make void the law through faith ? God forbid : 
yea, we establish the law." — Romans iii. 31. 

I. The Moral Law. 

The apostle Paul, who was evidently the most able 
and argumentative of all the apostles, proves, in op- 
position to a host of Jewish cavillers, that faith in the 
sacrifice of Calvary brought salvation, without a re- 
liance on the law of Moses, as a condition of present 
justification from the condemnation of sin — and amidst 
all their views of legal righteousness, assured them 
that "by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be 
justified." For, when the law is once transgressed, it 
can afford no refuge to a transgressor, in endeavor- 
ing to flee from the storm of Divine wrath that its 
outraged dignity threatens, according to the principles 
of eternal justice in support of good government. 
(196) 



THE MORAL LAW. 



197 



For, amidst blackness and darkness, and the sonnd 
of a trumpet, it thundered forth in the days of Moses 
its fearful maledictions from Sinai's flaming mountain 
against all workers of iniquity, crying, "Cursed is 
every one that continueth not in all things which are 
written in the book of the law to do them." It is the 
unchangeable nature of violated law to demand an exe- 
cution of the penalty, instead of an exercise of mercy ; 
and when pardon would be obtained, in any instance, 
it would proceed from a power above the law, but in 
nowise contrary to the law — for that would lower the 
standard of righteousness, and weaken the principles 
of a righteous administration that all ought to respect. 

Here, then, we see the utter impossibility of salva- 
tion by the law, or of safety in its violation; and 
therefore Paul shut up the Jews to the faith of Jesus 
of Nazareth, who was a " light to the Gentiles," and 
for salvation to the ends of the earth. " For the law 
was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by 
Jesus Christ. But now, the righteousness of God 
without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the 
law and the prophets. Even the righteousness of 
God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and 
upon all them that believe ; for there is no difference : 
for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of 
God ; being justified freely by his grace through the 
redemption that is in Christ Jesus : whom God hath 
set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his 
blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission 
of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God ; 



198 



THE MORAL LAW, 



to declare, I say, at this time his righteousness : that 
he might be just, and the justifier of him which be- 
lieveth in Jesus. Where is boasting then ? It is 
excluded. By what law ? of works ? Nay ; but by 
the law of faith. Therefore we conclude that a man 
is justified by faith without the deeds of the law." 

But while Paul eloquently proclaimed experimental 
righteousness, through faith, without the deeds of the 
law, he strenuously maintained that the gospel scheme 
of salvation did not abro'gate or make void the law 
through faith ; and he therefore triumphantly pro- 
pounded the question : " Do we then make void the 
law through faith?" and emphatically answered, 
" Grod forbid : yea, we establish the law." Not the 
ceremonial law, for that was a mere law of expediency, 
and served to answer the Divine purposes in the times 
of Jewish ignorance, until the bringing in of a better 
covenant, to which the ceremonial types, shadows, 
and figures pointed ; and when they were swept aside 
as a handwriting of ordinances, there was no infringe- 
ment made on the Moral Law, which, as an unchangea- 
ble code of moral requirements, was to stand in full 
force to the end of time. For as the ten command- 
ments are embodied in the JSTew Dispensation, and 
tend to our present and eternal happiness, they are - 
therefore designed by Jehovah to be perpetuated in 
practical obedience throughout our whole Christian 
pilgrimage to immortality and eternal life at God's 
right hand in heaven. 

This Moral Law is transcendently exalted in the 



ESTABLISHED BY FAITH IK CHRIST. 199 



unoriginated source from whence it proceeded, and is 
an ostensible transcript of the Divine nature. For 
Jehovah being the immutable foundation of all moral 
law, every law of which he is the author must have 
the stamp of his own eternal Divinity ; and being 
highly exalted in its origin, every intelligent being 
ought to love and respect the requirements of the 
Infinite Lawgiver, who, from the holiness and good- 
ness inherent in his own existence, could only enjoin 
what would be for the welfare of those commanded 
to obey. And while his supremacy would be easily 
acknowledged as the indisputable source of law, his 
will would be the proper ground of moral obligation. 
For as, from his infinite perfections, he could only will 
what is absolutely right, so all created intelligences 
would be bound to obey his commandments. And as, 
on the principles of correct jurisdiction, an everlasting 
distinction would have to be made between righteous- 
ness and unrighteousness, he who would not obey the 
law, ought to suffer the penalty, or accept pardon ac- 
cording to the terms of the Lawgiver ; and on these 
undeniable principles the* whole heaven-originated 
scheme of gospel grace proceeds. 

But, to prevent all just grounds of opposition and 
rebellion throughout the whole realm, all laws ought 
to be for the welfare of the subjects, and the dignity 
and honor of the throne, so that self-interest might 
prompt to obedience, and a love to the monarch lead 
to all due respect for the administration. Jehovah's 
laws, when properly considered, will be found ad- 



200 



THE MORAL LAW, 



mirably calculated to accomplish these ends, for they 
only enjoin what contributes to our happiness, and 
prohibit what would tend to our misery. Therefore 
the Psalmist sayeth : "Blessed are they that keep his 
commandments;" and Solomon declares that "He 
that keepeth the law, happy is he." The Moral Law 
being reasonable in its requirements, and holy, just, 
and good in its nature, when any rise in rebellion 
against its righteous demands it must be from a mis- 
guided desire to satisfy some momentary inclination 
for riches, honors, or pleasure, or a wilful and wicked 
opposition to the great Lawgiver ; and whether un- 
thinkingly or wickedly manifested for earthly pur- 
poses, will eventuate in the destitution of that true 
happiness, which all obedient subjects of God's laws 
shall enjoy in time and eternity ; and it is thus the 
interest of all mankind to love the Supreme Euler, 
and to obtain grace through faith in Christ Jesus, to 
enable them to keep all the commandments of the 
King Eternal. 

The Moral Law, being exalted in its author, rea- 
sonable in its requirements, and benevolent in its 
nature, must, on impartial principles, be universal in 
its application. For, as proper subjects of moral 
government, all would be interested, according to 
their various capacities and relations, in the extension 
of that law which would contribute to their safety 
and happiness, so, God could not consistently with- 
hold his "daws from any part of the human family, 
while their promulgation would honor himself, and 



ESTABLISHED BY FAITH IN CHRIST. 201 



add to the happiness of his subjects ; and it is a fear- 
ful thing to keep the Book of God, that contains the 
law and gospel, from any of his professed followers, 
or from Pagan lands, where millions now ought to be 
brought to Jesus and salvation through the Bible. 
And those who wilfully engage in such dark and 
daring deeds of hard earned infamy, must give an 
awful account to him who shall judge the quick and 
the dead. 

It is a benign and righteous peculiarity of the law, 
that it requires no more in any case than we are able 
to perform ; and therefore its great prototype assures 
us, that " Unto whomsoever much is given, of him 
shall be much required." But notwithstanding its 
wonderful adaptation to all the diversified states and 
conditions of every nation, language, kindred, tongue, 
and people, its contents are all summed up in — 
"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy 
heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, 
and with all thy mind, and thy neighbor as thyself." 
As on these two commandments hang all the law and 
the prophets, all, through the power * of the Holy 
Spirit, may have the law of God written in their 
hearts, and by faith in Jesus Christ have it practically 
carried forward in their lives. And as our obligation 
to law and righteousness must be perpetuated in all 
our earthly career, so must the law that determines 
the amount and nature of our obedience be unchange- 
able, as an established rule of moral procedure, so 
as to require no puzzling or changeable process to 



202 



THE. MORAL LAW, 



arrive at a knowledge of the Divine will concern- 
ing us. 

The Moral Law is therefore unchangeable in its 
nature. For being holy, just, and good, Jehovah could 
as soon change the perfections of his nature as to 
change the purity of the Moral Law, or to substitute an 
opposite one in its stead. Infinite wisdom, that regulates 
all the Divine proceedings, looking through the range 
of everlasting ages, saw that this law was the most 
proper one to guiclfc man's footsteps here, and through 
grace to lead him to life everlasting hereafter. And 
as it was not a ceremonial arrangement of expediency, 
to suit a particular age or dispensation, but founded in 
the very nature of good government, and proceeding 
from infinite benevolence, in accordance with the 
rights, relations, and blessedness of the whole human 
family, it cannot be relinquished, lowered, or trans- 
gressed, without an infringement upon the welfare of 
human society, and would also be a flagrant outrage 
upon the glory of the great Lawgiver. They who 
endeavor to explain away its moral force by the un- 
scriptural substitution of any gospel privilege, or rebel 
against its righteous precepts through mere wicked- 
ness, must stand constantly exposed to all the "forked 
lightnings and bolted storms" of legal vengeance, that 
roared around Sinai's Grod, when with his own finger 
he wrote its blazing contents on two tables of stone, 
and delivered them to Moses for all generations, as 
the unchangeable standard of their obedience to the 
legal requirements of the Almighty Sovereign. 



ESTABLISHED BY FAITH IN CHRIST. 



203 



But the law is also indispensable in its demands. 
It must be obeyed; its violation must be pardoned, or 
its penalty must be endured. These facts must be 
admitted by all who have clear views of the Divine 
government, and it therefore follows, in strict connec- 
tion with the perfections of infinite Deity, that when 
the law is trangressed, and pardon can be offered on 
principles honorable to law, and in consistence with 
the public welfare, it would be a manifestation of 
cruelty not to exercise clemency. For punishment 
ought to be legally inflicted only where justice forbids 
an obviation of penalty, and the rectitude of good 
government requires an infliction of suffering for the 
safety and happiness of the innocent, that all sound 
policy ought to protect. But whatever barrier justice 
may place in the way of a sinner's salvation from hell 
in the world to come, we are confidently assured, that 
in this world, God pardoneth iniquity, transgression, 
and sin; and at the same time is just, and the justifier 
of him who believeth in Jesus. Therefore, by timely 
repentance, a proper application for pardon, and a 
faithful reliance on the atonement of Christ, offenders 
against the Divine government will be forgiven, peace 
between them and their Maker be restored, and the 
dignity and authority of the Moral Law be gloriously 
maintained in the perpetuation of righteousness and 
true holiness on earth, as a qualification for the 
crowns and thrones of glory in heaven. But when 
the law is violated, and no pardon received, then the 
penalty must be endured. To dispense with that, 



204 



THE MORAL LAW, 



would be to enthrone the most abominable transgres- 
sors of law, and enemies of order, with those who 
righteously bear the burden and heat of the day ; and 
who count not their lives dear unto them, so that 
they may finish their course with joy, and have a part 
in the first resurrection. Many now seem to think 
that they are offering acceptable homage to God, while 
they praise his boundless goodness, and, at the same 
time, they are living in the secret and open violation 
of his laws. But, ! what consternation will over- 
whelm them, when they shall be irresistibly compelled 
to acknowledge, that the Moral Law is eternal in its 
rewards and punishments. This fact will be glori- 
ously and awfully verified, after the day of judgment, 
on both sides of the great gulf; and is fully proven 
by Jesus Christ where he says : " There was a certain 
rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, 
and fared sumptuously every day : and there was a 
certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his 

Do ' 

gate, full of sores, and desiring to be fed with the 
crumbs which fell from the rich man's table : more- 
over the dogs came and licked his sores. And it 
came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried 
by the angels into Abraham's bosom : the rich man 
also died, and was buried ; and in hell he lifted up 
his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar 
off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried, and 
said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send 
Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water 
and cool my tongue ; for I am tormented in this flame. 



ESTABLISHED BY FAITH IX .CHRIST. 



205 



But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy 
lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise 
Lazarus evil things : but now he is comforted, and 
thou art tormented. And besides all this, between us 
and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they 
which would pass from hence to you cannot ; neither 
can they pass to us, that would come from thence." 

In Matthew's gospel, also, where Christ was declar- 
ing the eternal states of the righteous and the wicked, 
he emphatically said : "And these shall go away into 
everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life 
eternal ;" and decides the duration of both states by 
aionion, the strongest word used in the Greek 'Testa- 
ment, to designate the eternal existence of the Lord 
Jehovah, the unoriginated Lawgiver. Some have 
endeavored to weaken the force of this passage, in 
application to future punishment, because the word in 
the English Testament in the one case is everlasting, 
and the other eternal, as if they had a different dura- 
tion*, but every Greek scholar who reads the passage 
knows, that in the original, the word is the same in 
both cases, and nothing in favor of an extrication from 
eternal punishment can be obtained from that passage 
of sacred Scripture. Doctor Adam Clarke, in com- 
menting on this controverted subject, says : " But 
some are of opinion that this punishment shall have 
an end ; this is as likely, as that the glory of the 
righteous shall have an end : for the same word is 
used to express the duration of the punishment, as is 
used to express the duration of the state of glory. I 



206 



THE MORAL LAW, 



have seen the best things that have "been written in 
favor of the final redemption of damned spirits ; but 
I never saw an answer to the argument against that 
doctrine, drawn from this verse, but what sound learn- 
ing and criticism should be ashamed to acknowledge. 
The original word aion, is certainly to be taken here 
in its proper grammatical sense, continued being, 
aieon, never ending. Some have gone a middle way, 
and think that the wicked shall be annihilated. This, 
I think, is contrary to the text ; if they go into 
punishment, they continue to exist; for that which 
ceases to be, ceases to suffer." On the endless glory 
of the saints in heaven, according to law and right- 
eousness, through the covenant of mercy there need 
be no controversy. For it is admitted by all who 
'believe in the immortality of the human soul, that the 
righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance ; and 
shall join with all the unnumbered millions of the 
eternal Paradise, to worship the "high and lofty One 
that inhabiteth eternity" in all the splendors of his 
unoriginated existence, spreading light, and love, and 
joy to all the glorified spirits that encircle his throne, 
and shall sound the deep-toned hallelujahs, with all 
the first-born sons of light, that join in sacred song 
with the immortal choir, that in ecstatic raptures roll 
on the sacred strains that crown Jehovah God of all. • 
Having now, in very circumscribed limits, stated that 
the Moral Law is transcendently exalted in its Author, 
reasonable in its requirements, universal in its appli- 
cation, unchangeable in its nature, indispensable in its 



ESTABLISHED BY FAITH IN CHRIST. 207 

demands, and eternal in its rewards and punishments ; 
I shall in the next place show, that instead of faith 
in Jesus Christ making void the law, it establishes it 
in all its Divine requirements. 

II. Faith establishes the Law. 

1. Faith establishes it as a rule of moral action 
throughout our whole probation. Jesus Christ could be 
the author of no system of salvation that would 
supersede the Moral Law. For if the gospel abro- 
gated that, then his mission to our world would be a 
curse instead of a blessing, by favoring wickedness in 
abolishing that standard of righteousness that would 
deter from sin. And though salvation is not obtained, 
as we have shown, by the works of the law, but 
through faith, nevertheless, obedience to the law 
proves the soundness of our faith, arising from the 
indwelling of the Holy Ghost and a new nature in 
Christ Jesus. For Paul sayeth : " Therefore, if any 
man be in Christ, he is a new creature : old things are 
passed away ; behold, all things are become new." 
And James sayeth : " Shew me thy faith without thy 
works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. 
Thou believest that there is One God ; thou doest 
well : the devils also believe and tremble. But wilt 
thou know, vain man, that faith without works is 
dead? Was not Abraham, our father, justified by 
works, when he had offered Isaac, his son, upon the 
altar ? Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, 
and by works was faith made perfect?" Here we 



208 THE MORAL LAW, 



have faith and works intimately united in the gospel 
dispensation. Faith, in its mighty exercise, appro- 
priates the merits of Christ, and brings Divine grace 
to sanctify our nature, and to enable us to act up to 
the standard of moral rectitude, as required by the 
Moral Law. And if we deny that we are bound to 
fulfil that law, as an abiding standard of practical 
righteousness, then, we have no infallible standard by 
which to measure the result of our faith in moral 
actions. For conscience, except it be regulated by the 
law of morality between man and man, is no sure 
guide for a Christian life. This is fully established 
by daily experience and observation ; for when the 
revealed' rule is set aside altogether, or is totally 
neglected, men, with the approbation of their own 
consciences, often run to the most disgraceful ex- 
tremes; and by an improper education, some will 
condemn what others approve, and in the most mo- 
mentous concerns, give lamentable evidence of the 
flexibility of their consciences. We suppose the 
great Calvin had the approbation of his conscience 
when he burned Servetus, because he did not believe 
in the doctrine of the Trinity. And when those who 
had the Quakers and supposed witches of New Eng- 
land sacrificed at the shrine of superstitious zeal, who 
would dare to say, that they did not view their con- 
sciences as void of offence in the intended honor of 
their God ? We have had woeful proofs of unscrip- 
tural and misguided consciences in the cases of 
Roman Catholics, who, in the darker days of their 



ESTABLISHED BY FAITH IN CHKIST. 209 



Church, have started back with the utmost horror at 
eating beef on special occasions in Lent, and had the 
approbation of their consciences in imbruing their 
hands in the blood of Protestants. And many Metho- 
dists have proceeded as if they were acting in all 
good conscience, in striving to divide and break up 
the great Methodist Episcopal Church, that has been 
instrumental in the salvation and glorification of so 
many hundreds of thousands, and that God specially 
raised up to spread scriptural holiness over all lands. 
And many of the race of Banters, Shaking Quakers, 
Antinomians, and Mormons, prove that it is a fearful 
thing to make void the Law of God that is " a lamp 
to our feet and a light to our path" through the wil- 
derness of life. And to crown the climax of all, 
Saul of Tarsus lived in "all good conscience before 
God," when he received authority from the chief 
priests to cast into prison those that called on the 
name of the Lord Jesus ; and held the cloak of a 
young man that stoned Stephen, who was one of the 
best men that ever lived. 

But are not the Pope's mandates, and the decisions 
of the Eomish Church in her consecrated clergy, 
infallible guides, and are not all within the pale of her 
communion sure of eternal life by walking according 
to her directions? Alas, alas! Ecclesiastical History 
and ocular demonstration have proven, that many of 
the Popes have been monuments of human weakness 
and monsters of iniquity. And instead of implicitly 
following Popes, Bishops, councils, and conclaves, we 
14 



210 THE MORAL LAW, 

ought to come to the Divine Standard; and let faith in 
Christ Jesus bring to our souls the sanctifying influ- 
ences of the Holy Spirit ; and then, by the indwelling 
fulness of a new nature, we shall have the Moral Law 
gloriously established in opposition to the command- 
ments of men, that many shallow and time-serving 
ecclesiastics, in the Catholic and Protestant Churches, 
have incorporated into their creeds, and on which the 
immortal genius of true Christianity frowns unuttera- 
ble things. Many are now led on in moonlight glim- 
merings, when they ought to be basking in the great 
sunlight of gospel salvation. But, notwithstanding 
all this cause of lamentation and great mourning, 
there are, in all the churches of Christendom, many 
that love God and are striving to keep his command- 
ments, through faith in the great Mediator. And 
though we strenuously contend for the establishment 
of the Moral Law, as a rule of progressive action, we 
nevertheless assert, that the great need of the Church 
is a mighty baptism of the Holy Ghost on all her 
ministers and members, to make them more instru- 
mental in establishing truth, and in spreading right- 
eousness and experimental holiness all abroad in 
accordance with the requirements of the ten com- 
mandments. 

2. We establish the Law as a medium of Happiness. 
Jehovah sayeth : " Blessed is the man that walketh 
not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the 
way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. 
But his delight is in the law of the Lord ; and in his 



ESTABLISHED BY FAITH IN CHRIST. 



211 



law doth, he meditate day and night. And he shall 
be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that 
bringeth forth bis fruit in his season ; his leaf also 
shall not wither ; and whatsoever he doeth shall pros- 
per. The ungodly are not so : but are like the chaff 
which the wind driveth away." In every situation 
and circumstance of life, the law of God will beam a 
light of heaven-kindled splendor on our path, that 
cannot be dimmed by the trials, tribulations, and sor- 
rows through which we may pass. And while we are 
walking in the strength of grace, according to this 
rule, we will be happy in the assurance " that all 
things work together for good to them that love God." 
Obedience to its Divine precepts brings an evidence 
of God's love, a peace of conscience, a joy in the Holy 
Ghost, and a clear prospect of heaven, according to 
the promises of the new dispensation ; and in accord- 
ance with which the commandments of the Moral 
Law are gloriously established by faith in Jesus 
Christ, and carried forward in the experience and 
happiness of all God's true followers. In illustration 
of these facts, we now ask, Is the sinner religiously 
happy who wilfully transgresses this law ? And we 
promptly answer, No — he has no real spiritual en- 
joyment. " There is no peace, saith my God, to the 
wicked ;" they " are like the troubled sea." Sinners 
have the happiness, or rather pleasure, of eating, 
drinking, and sleeping, in common with the beasts of 
the forest, the fowls of the air, and the fishes of the 
sea, and in association with their fellow mortals have 



212 



THE MORAL LAW, 



many earthly enjoyments ; but these are not the 
intellectual, and pure spiritual joys, for which man 
was created, as a noble link in the chain of being, 
and for which he was redeemed by the Son of 
God. An immortal spirit cannot be happy but in 
obedient union with the great Creator, Eedeemer, and 
Saviour, 

And as obedience to the Divine law is a medium 
through which communications of peace, joy, and 
love are made to the believing soul ; and as the sin- 
ner's wickedness and unbelief deprive him of these 
blessings, he is therefore comparatively miserable, and 
feels, amidst all his earthly pursuits, an aching void, 
that the riches, honors, and pleasures of this world 
can never fill. Notwithstanding all the impositions 
that ignorance, falsehood, and wickedness have prac- 
ticed upon his conscience, it still charges home upon 
him those acts of unrighteousness, that bring " a cer- 
tain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indigna- 
tion, which shall devour the adversaries" of the Lord, 
and the impenitent transgressors of his holy law. 
And while the ungodly are groaning under the weight 
of present guilt, and tormented by an apprehension 
of future vengeance, they have an awful foretaste of 
that damnation, which, if they repent not, nor obtain 
pardon, they will inevitably feel to the full extent of 
eternal justice in the enforcement of the penalty of 
violated law. But the truly obedient believer, who 
doeth justly, loveth mercy, and walketh humbly 
with his God, has a peace that passeth all under- 



ESTABLISHED BY FAITH IN CHRIST. 213 



standing, and a joy unspeakable and full of the 
hope of immortal glory ; and while he knows and 
feels, by constant experience, that a faithful fulfil- 
ment ©f the law <sas a medium of happiness here, 
he looks forward to its vast rewards in an endless 
hereafter. 

3. We establish the Law as an infallible standard in 
the day of judgment, by which we shall be tried, approved, 
or condemned. The Bible assures us that we shall be 
judged according to the deeds done in the body. 
Solomon declares, that " Grod will bring every work 
into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be 
good or whether it be evil." This strict procedure 
calls for a proper standard by which the phases, bear- 
ings, and actualities of good and evil shall be dis- 
criminated and judged in their relations to the pro- 
bationary subjects of the King Eternal, in winding 
up the affairs of this world. And as every work 
shall be brought to the judgment-seat of Christ, the 
moral quality of every work must be determined by 
its conformity or non-conformity to the letter and 
spirit of the law by which we were commanded to 
walk, in oUr state of probation, as free agents and ac- 
countable beings. No standard of sovereign par- 
tiality or juridical favoritism will influence the judge, 
in that great day of dread decision, when the secrets 
of all hearts shall be disclosed, and righteousness only 
be rewarded. And as an impartial administration 
implies that all under the law, and to be judged 
according to law, must have had the opportunity 



214 



THE MOEAL LAW, 



and power of obedience to the Divine standard, so all 
transgressors, when fairly condemned, must blame 
themselves for having chosen death, in the error of 
their ways, in opposition to truth, few, and righteous- 
ness ; and will stand fearfully alive to the horror of 
their doom, and sink forever to shades of unutterable 
woe. On the other hand, the righteous, who through 
faith in Jesus Christ acted up to the legal require- 
ments of the Moral Law, according to the covenant of 
grace in redemption and the power of the Holy Ghost 
in experimental salvation, shall hear the Judge pro- 
nounce the heart-cheering plaudit : " "Well done, good 
and faithful servants, enter into the joy of your 
Lord." 

4. We establish the Law as a correct and eternal 
Standard of the proper amount of Rewards and Pun- 
ishments. Though, in a future state, the Moral Law 
will be necessarily separated from many of its transi- 
tory bearings and relations to mortals in this world, 
yet its great principle of love to God and man will 
be in vigorous operation around the throne, and shall 
flow with the most enraptured feelings of the re- 
deemed along the tide of endless duratio'n. And as 
heaven is a place of law and order, where Jehovah 
presides over all, so those who make the greatest im- 
provement of their talents and grace in time, shall, 
according to their capacities, receive the greatest re- 
ward in eternity. And as our eternal progress after 
the Divine perfections will be in strict accordance 
with the precise degree of mental capacity and ac- 



ESTABLISHED BY FAITH IN CHRIST. 



215 



quirements with, which we enter heaven, we ought to 
be earnestly engaged in improving our time and 
talents below, that our rewards of righteousness may 
be more transcendently great in the kingdom of 
glory above. On the principle of endless progression, 
which is inevitably consistent with the nature of all 
glorified intelligences, our immortal powers will be 
strengthened for still higher attainments, and be far- 
ther prepared for the reception of greater blessedness. 
And as our felicity flows on with the flux of everlast- 
ing life, the two great cardinal principles of moral 
law shall be gloriously exemplified in love to God 
and all the heavenly society. According to this un- 
changeable arrangement, the great Lawgiver will be 
transcendently honored, the Moral Law will be eter- 
nally established, and all the obedient subjects of 
the realm will . be endlessly rewarded. And as the 
law determines the climax of glory to which the 
saints ascend in heaven, it also fixes righteous limits 
to the punishment of hell. For as the Almighty 
Ruler will extend his administration over all, his per- 
fections will lead him to as fair a distribution of 
justice in hell as in heaven. And as there will be 
different grades of existence, and degrees of guilt, 
among the damned, there must also be greater and 
lesser degrees of misery ; and the same Moral Law 
which exhibits the extent of their rebellion, will 
be the proper standard for the amount of their penal 
punishment. And while they are convinced of the 



216 THE MORAL LAW, 

propriety of the law, the unchangeable rectitude of 
the administration, and the rightful sovereignty of 
the Monarch, they must eternally acknowledge the 
justness of their damnation as rebels against the uni- 
versal Sovereign. 



SERMON VIII. 

THE DECREES 

OP THE 

CONFESSION OF FAITH/ 

ADOPTED BY THE 

OLD AND NEW SCHOOL PRESBYTERIANS, 

AMPLY REFUTED, AND A FREE AND FULL SALVATION 
FOR ALL MANKIND INCONTESTABLY ESTABLISHED. 



Preface. — No undue desire for controversy, or to find fault 
with predestinarians, has led to the publication of this Sermon. 
But as the " Confession of Faith," adopted by the Old and 
New School Presbyterians, contains an astonishing amount of 
the most monstrous and ruinous errors, I have, therefore, con- 
cluded for the glory of God, and the triumph of truth, to meet 
the hydra-headed monster of Calvinism, in the strength of 
Scripture, reason, and righteousness, and hold up the decrees 
of unconditional election and reprobation to the chastisement 
of* public reprehension ; that Calvinists may see the real nature 
of their doctrines, and be urged from their awful deformity to 
renounce them forever, and to take the Bible as the heaven- 
inspired standard of their theology. 



" Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure 
in the death of the wicked ; but that the wicked turn from 
his way and live : turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways ; for 
why will ye die, house of Israel ?" — Ezekiel xxxiii. 11. 

Amidst the numerous errors which have existed 
in the world for a series of years, Calvinism has 
maintained a conspicuous prominence in holding the 

(217) 



218 



THE DECKEES OF THE 



doctrine of unconditional election and reprobation. 
And, notwithstanding the light of the gospel that 
beams all around, in this nineteenth century of Chris- 
tianity, Calvinism still occupies its former position in 
the " Confession of Faith," that is adopted by the Old 
and New School Presbyterians. As this doctrine of 
reprobation and unconditional election so deeply 
blackens the character of the All-glorious Jehovah, 
and has been instrumental in ruining many souls, I 
shall, by Divine assistance, and in the strength of 
reason and revelation, meet this theological monster 
of error in the spirit of unflinching antagonism, and 
hold up false principles to the chastisement of public 
reprehension. And as my opposition will be to doc- 
trines instead of persons, I humbly trust that my 
animadversions will not impede the progress of any 
experimental followers of our Lord Jesus Christ 
found in Calvinistic churches, who have arisen above 
the errors of their creed, and are on the way to life 
everlasting in the heaven of heavens. Indeed, if pre- 
destinarians will logically reason from their own 
premises, they should be reconciled to all that I shall 
write in the following pages against their doctrine, 
seeing that they believe all things have been decreed, 
from all eternity ; and thus, in answering their tenets, 
I would be practically complying with the arrange- 
ment of the All- wise and glorious God. But if, on 
the other hand, they shall be dissatisfied with my 
proceedings, it will then plainly appear that they do 
not cheerfully submit to the foreordination of God in 



"CONFESSION OF FAITH." 



219 



my case ; and they would be but poor specimens of 
their own system, which ; when fairly explained, would 
imply an eternal authority for my explanation of Cal- 
vinism, in fulfilment of the Divine counsels, which, 
according to positive predestination, embrace and 
influence all things on the tide of time and roll of 
eternity. *But as the text that I have chosen stands 
so diametrically opposed to predestinarian reproba- 
tion, I shall, in its explanation, take, in the first place, 
a general view of Calvinism ; and secondly, prove 
that God has no pleasure in the damnation of the 
wicked ; but that there is a free and full salvation for 
all mankind. 

I. Take a genekal view of Calvinism. 

The "Confession of Faith" asserts, that "The de- 
crees of God are his eternal purpose according to the 
counsel of his will, whereby, for his own glory, he 
hath foreordained whatsoever comes to pass." ISTow, 
according to this doctrine, openly espoused by Cal- 
vinists, we can charge all the wickedness of men and 
devils on the decree of Jehovah ; for all their actions 
and abominations have come to pass according to 
God's will, if Calvinism be true. If, then, he has 
wisely and eternally decreed whatsoever comes to pass, 
that would demonstrably prove that the devil in all 
his infernal actions was doing the will of God. On 
this ground, Presbyterians who believe in Calvinism 
should be religiously reconciled to all that is going on 
in earth and hell. For if all spring from an immutable 



220 



THE DECREES OF THE 



decree, then the devil, in the great scheme of predes- 
tination, would be a co-worker with the Almighty 
Sovere%n. Now who, with even a superficial know- 
ledge of the nature and attributes of God, could 
believe such a doctrine if it were not for the blinding 
influence of human creeds, that are often substituted, 
to a shameful extent, for the heaven-inspired truths 
of the Bible? And though Presbyterian theologians 
may explain Calvinism, so as. to make it palatable to 
many people, yet while it is still retained in the " Con- 
fession of Faith," and ministers and members generally 
profess their belief in its contents, it is in vain to 
smooth it over, for it will arise from its conclave 
approved pages, and appear to all logical and disin- 
terested reasoners, as an infraction of the holiness, 
justice, and goodness of God. 

But in our most ardent zeal against false principles, 
and sincere anxiety for their overthrow, we should 
always be governed by a strict adherence to truth and 
moral honesty ; and these now lead me to state, that 
there are many important truths joined in the " Con- 
fession of Faith" with the shameful errors of Cal- 
vinism ; and against these truths I shall make no 
opposition, but would maintain them as firmly as the 
most strenuous predestinarians. And now, after this 
voluntary confession, I honestly assert, and sincerely 
believe, that nearly the whole organized system of 
Calvinism is an aggregate of unblushing error. And 
though it is propped up in many places by wealth, 
ecclesiastical policy, and training up children in its 



"CONFESSION OF FAITH." 



221 



bewildering mazes by catechetical instruction, its doc- 
trines of reprobation and unscriptural election should, 
nevertheless, be swept from the world as monstrous 
heresies, that retard the spiritual progress of Chris- 
tianity in its onward march to eternal victory. 

If any doubt the truth of these statements relative 
to the nature of positive predestination, let them 
attend to the undeniable facts that I shall here produce 
in justification of my opposition to such egregious and 
ruinous errors. Calvinism canonically holds that 
God, from all eternity, for his own sovereign pleasure, 
unconditionally predestinated some to eternal damna- 
tion. Now every man that understands the nature of 
God and the plan of salvation, should pronounce this 
an awful absurdity, that needs no elaborate arguments 
to prove its God-dishonoring existence. But, not- 
withstanding all its darkness and deformity, many 
have contended for it as a doctrine of the Bible, while 
it is obviously stamped with the image of Satan, and 
evidently looks like the father of lies. Calvinism 
also asserts, that Christ died only for the elect, and 
not for all mankind, and thereby limits the atonement 
of him who gave his life "for the life of the world," 
and " tasted death for every man." This doctrine of pre- 
destination obviously involves the character of God in 
partiality for a part of mankind, while the rest were 
doomed to damnation without even a possibility of sal- 
vation, because they were not comprised in the covenant 
of mercy through the atonement of Christ Jesus, as 
is taught in the " Confession of Faith." Calvinism 



222 



THE DECEEES OF THE 



further declares, that the Holy Spirit only effectually 
calls the elect that must yield by irresistible grace to 
be saved in a day of (rod's power, and then, as the 
elect, they can never perish, but must have eternal 
life. And though they may fall into the grossest 
abominations, and wander away from Christ through 
unbelief, yet, as the elect children of God, they are 
covered with the robe of Christ's spotless righteous- 
ness, and, according to unconditional salvation, must 
be brought back and exalted to glory, honor, and im- 
mortality, in consequence of the eternal decree of the 
great Sovereign. Now, these views, that are so dear 
to thorough-going predestinarians, are a caricature on 
the whole scheme of salvation found in the book of 
God. And when we take into consideration the 
whole contents of Calvinistic theology, with some 
biblical and experimental exception, they may be 
logically traced to a Satanic source ; for they never 
could comport with the perfections of the God of un- 
blemished majesty, as the great Author of truth, who 
sayeth, " Look unto me, and be ye saved all the ends 
of the earth ; for I am Grod : and there is none else. 

No loud cry of charity in the garb of a time- 
serving policy, or undue desire to please Presby- 
terians for the sake of popularity and selfish interest, 
should induce us to withhold important truths that 
tend to the glory of God and the welfare of mankind. 
And as T sincerely believe, that the doctrines of un- 
conditional election and reprobation, are, in their 
logical bearings, among the darkest doctrines on this 



"CONFESSION OF FAITH." . 223 

side of the infernal caverns, I therefore rejoice in the 
ability that God and truth afford to expose their dark- 
ness and deformity, knowing that true Christian 
charity requires righteousness and true holiness in- 
stead of sycophantic compliments and ecclesiastical 
selfishness, that never can "be approbated by the Head 
of the Church, who so faithfully exposed ruinous 
. errors. And now, lest any misinformed persons 
should think me too strenuous, or that I have mis- 
apprehended the Calvinistic doctrines of the " Con- 
fession of Faith," I shall here produce a sample of 
their awful contents, published in Philadelphia by the 
Presbyterian Board, in accordance with the authority 
of the General Assembly, May 29th, 1839. We think 
it decidedly best to produce our quotations from a 
recent edition ; for if we would give extracts from old 
editions of the " Confession of Faith," some might 
say, and even believe, that these do not contain the 
belief of Presbyterians at this time on the doctrine 
of reprobation. But to settle this point on an im- 
movable basis, I assure the reader, that the doctrine 
of election and reprobation is precisely the same in all 
the " Confessions of Faith ;" and I firmly believe, that 
no change of this doctrine has been made in any edi- 
tion since the first was published, as the standard doc- 
trines of the Presbyterian Church. I have carefully 
examined an edition printed in Edinburgh, as 
'Agreed upon by the Assembly of Divines at West- 
minster : examined and approved 1647, by the Gen- 
eral Assembly of the Church of Scotland, and 



224 



THE DECKEES OF THE 



ratified by the Acts of Parliament 1649 and 1690." 
The next one that I compared with the former, was 
published in 1806 for the Presbyterian Church in 
the United States of America ; and, also, the edition 
of 1839, from which I shall make quotations, contains 
the very same decrees of the other two ; and the first 
of which seems to be the original " Confession of 
Faith," and the first ever published for the Presby- 
terians ; and in these three editions, so remotely apart, 
there is not even the difference of one word on the 
doctrine of election and reprobation, and we therefore 
prove the identical sameness of the decrees in the 
Presbyterian Church, for a range of more than two 
hundred years ; and I now call strict attention to the 
following awful extracts, taken from the '^Confession 
of Faith" of both the Old and New School Presby- 
terians. Chapter 3d of God's Eternal Decrees. "God 
from all eternity did, by the most wise and holy counsel 
of his own will, freely and unchangeably ordain what- 
soever comes to pass ; yet, so as thereby, neither is God 
the author of sin ; nor is violence offered to the will 
of the creatures, nor is the liberty or contingency of 
second causes taken away, but rather established. 
Although God knows whatsoever may or can come to 
pass, upon all supposed conditions ; yet, hath he not 
decreed any thing, because he foresaw it as future, or 
as that which would come to pass, upon such condi- 
tions." Now it is truly astonishing that any intelli- 
gent theologians could believe the inconsistencies 
found in the above words. For how could God 



"CONFESSION OF FAITH." 



225 



unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass, and 
maintain the freedom of the will of moral agents, and 
the contingency of second causes ? And though we 
fully believe in the boundless foreknowledge of God, 
yet that could have no necessitating influence on the 
moral actions of men, without making God the author 
of sin, which would be a horrible theory ; and that 
is the conclusion to which absolute predestination 
brings us. But this is a false principle, and obviously 
dishonorable to God ; for as he is absolutely holy in 
his existence and attributes, the exercise of Omni- 
science as a holy attribute could not produce sin, and 
thus Jehovah could not be the author of moral evil 
in design, decree, or action ; and we therefore affirm, 
that the theory of Calvinistic reprobation is false in 
philosophy, awful in theology, and contrary to the 
real nature of cause and effect, that regulates all things, 
from the highest angel in heaven to the lowest animal- 
cule on earth. But however repulsive, unphilosophic, 
and unscriptural the words may be on which I have 
just animadverted in the above question, the follow- 
ing extracts are still worse in their outward aspect, 
though the same as the other in the horrible incon- 
sistency of their contents, and implication of the 
Divine character as here openly expressed, and found 
in the Calvinism of the " Confession of Faith" in the 
following words : 

"By the decree of God, for the manifestation of 
his glory, some men and angels are predestinated unto 
everlasting life, and others foreordained to everlasting 
15 



226 



THE DECREES OF THE 



death. These angels and men, thus predestinated 
and foreordained, are particularly and unchangeably 
designed ; and their number is so certain and definite, 
that it cannot be either increased or diminished. 
Those of mankind that are predestinated unto life, 
God, before the foundation of the world was laid, 
according to his eternal and immutable purpose and 
the secret counsel and good pleasure of his will, hath 
chosen in Christ unto everlasting glory, out of his 
mere free grace and love, without any foresight of 
faith or good works, or perseverance in either of 
them, or any other thing in the creature as conditions 
or causes moving him thereunto — and all to the praise 
of his glorious grace. 

"As God hath appointed the elect unto glory, so 
hath he, by the eternal and most free purpose of his 
will, foreordained all the means thereunto. Where- 
fore they who are elected, being fallen in Adam, are 
redeemed by Christ ; are effectually called unto faith 
in Christ by his Spirit working in due season ; 
are justified, adopted, sanctified, and kept by his 
power through faith unto salvation. Keith er are 
any other redeemed by Christ, effectually called, jus- 
tified, adopted, sanctified and' saved, but the elect 
only. 

"The rest of mankind God was pleased, according 
to the unsearchable counsel of his own will, whereby 
he extendeth or withholcleth mercy as he pleaseth 
for the glory of his sovereign power over his creatures, 
to pass by, and to ordain them to dishonor and 



'•' CONFESSION OF FAITH." 



227 



wrath for their sin, to the praise of his glorious 
justice." 

Here, now, is an awful sample of Calvinism, taken 
in due form from the great standard of Presbyterian 
theology ; and a more horrible doctrine than eternal 
reprobation was never embodied in any creed. For 
what could be more awful than that God from all 
eternity doomed to eternal damnation a great part of 
mankind for his own sovereign pleasure ? while our 
text declares, in his own words, that he has no 
pleasure in the death of him that clieth. And to 
smooth over this view, so dishonorable to God the 
Father, and to his Son as the Kedeemer, Predestina- 
rians argue that, as all mankind were fallen and de- 
served damnation, it was then just in God to choose 
out of the human family those that he pleased to 
save, and leave the rest to be damned. However 
plausible this may seem to some, it would imply hor- 
rible cruelty in God. For as all were created for his 
own glory, and all stood on equal ground as fallen, 
helpless sinners, therefore to leave any to perish that 
he could properly save, would imply great partiality, 
and be derogatory to the unblemished character of 
the God of unbounded goodness. What would we 
think of an earthly father, with a family of children 
happy in the parental arrangement of the household 
circle of enjoyments, and who by some unfortunate 
procedure, contrary to the rules of family government, 
strayed away into a dense' wilderness, where they 
were exposed to misery and death, and none but the 



228 



THE DECKEES OF THE 



father could properly extricate them from the di- 
lemma in which they were placed, if, in the exercise 
of his parental goodness, he would hasten to the scene 
of distress and willingly bring away only the one 
half of his children, and leave the others to die by 
starvation and misery, when he could have benevo- 
lently and honorably brought them all, on the same 
principles of free agency in them, and fatherly kind- 
ness in him, to the formerly beloved mansion ? What 
would we think of such a partial father ? And with 
all the praise that might be bestowed upon him in the 
one case, could he not, in the other, be charged with 
cruel partiality? We have here an illustration of 
the God of Calvinism in relation to the soul-damning 

o 

doctrine of reprobation found in the Presbyterian 
" Confession of Faith," that so many admire in this 
glorious day of gospel light and salvation. 

In the doctrines of the decrees contained in the 
extracts that we have given, there is one strange and 
illogical peculiarity that runs through the whole con- 
tents ; and did I not believe in the sincerity of the 
ffamers of the " Confession of Faith," I would be led 
to the conclusion, that they wilfully perverted the 
real philosophical nature of cause and effect to keep 
up the original idea of eternal election and reproba- 
tion, and still to rest the blame of damnation on man. 
For however firmly they settled down on their pre- 
destinating scheme that God foreordained whatsoever 
comes to pass, they illogically strove to maintain that 
sinners were damned because of their sins, while at 



"CONFESSION OF FAITH." 



229 



the same time they say " God has not decreed any 
thing because he foresaw it as future, or as that which 
would come to pass upon such conditions." And it 
is also declared, that " Some men and angels are pre- 
destinated unto everlasting life, and others foreor- 
dained to everlasting death." It would therefore be 
a perversion of sound reasoning and moral honesty 
to blame man for doing what God has unchangeably 
decreed, and which, on Calvinistic principles, could 
not be otherwise; and ministers of the sanctuary 
should be willing to face the consequences of the doc- 
trines to which tbey willingly subscribed. But an- 
other evidence of the mixed and perverted state of 
their theology, is found in the fifth chapter of the 
"Confession of Faith," where it is said — "As for those 
wicked and ungodly men whom God, as a righteous 
judge, for former sins, doth blind and harden ; from 
them he not only withholdeth his grace, whereby 
they might have been enlightened in their under- 
standing and wrought upon in their hearts, but some- 
times also withdraweth the gifts which they had, and 
exposeth them to such objects as their corruption 
makes occasion of sin, and withal gives them over to 
their own lusts, the temptations of the world, and the 
power of Satan." 

These are the God-dishonoring doctrines to which 
Calvinistic ministers are called upon to subscribe; 
and instead of ^openly renouncing them, in this age 
of light and improvement; they endeavor to perpetu- 
ate them by the most solemn vows in their churches, 



230 



THE DECREES OF THE 



and have to express their belief in their accordance 
with the Sacred Oracles. Every ordained minister, 
licentiate, ruling elder, and deacon in the Presbyterian 
Church, must adopt the " Confession of Faith," as con- 
taining the system of doctrine taught in the Holy 
Scriptures; and if there are any exceptions in the 
case of proselyted ministers of other churches, they 
would be received contrary to the general usage. 
And lest some might suppose me mistaken on this 
point, I prove it, in case of deacons and ruling elders, 
by page 429 ; in the case of licentiates, by page 434 ; 
and in relation to ordained ministers, by page 441. 
The same question is asked and adopted in all the 
above cases, in the following words : " Do you sin- 
cerely receive and adopt the ' Confession of Faith' of 
this Church,, as containing the system of doctrine 
taught in the Holy Scriptures ?" But notwithstand- 
ing all the religious solemnity thrown around Cal- 
vinism, it still remains the same in all its earth-born 
organization of horrible decrees ; and instead of 
these being in accordance with the scheme of saU 
vation or truths of the Bible, they shrink from the 
effulgent light of the gospel, as the snow-wreath melts 
before the noontide splendors of the god of day as 
he pours his light and heat upon the world. The 
devil himself does not believe the doctrine of uncon- 
ditional election and reprobation; for if he did, he 
would not be so ardently engaged for our ruin, know- 
ing that he could not change an eternal decree of 
Almighty God by his proceedings ; and that, if the 



"CONFESSION OF FAITH." 



231 



decrees of Calvinism were true, he was sure of all 
the reprobate in God's own time, and that the elect 
could never perish, but, according to the immutable 
decree, must have eternal life. And therefore the 
proceedings of Satan, who is no sciolist in doctrine, 
refute the decrees of Calvinism. 

It would, indeed, be a strange decree of the All- wise 
God, to keep the devil constantly at work with the 
elect and the reprobate, when his exertions and hell- 
ish machinations could have no effect on their sal- 
vation or damnation, if all were unchangeably decreed. 
It would heighten its strangeness to have all the 
devil's works traced up to God himself, as the decree- 
ing and necessitating power by which they were per- 
formed. This would logically exculpate Satan from 
all real culpability, and rest the whole blame of his 
proceedings on the Lord Jehovah. Alas, alas! thp 
more we look into the system of Calvinism the darker 
it appears. Many, practicing on the principle that if 
they were born to be saved, they would be saved; 
and if born to be damned, they would be damned ; 
have floated on through the ruinous mazes and mean- 
derings of time, until they died in sin, and awoke to 
tall the realities of eternity. 

Surely, the Presbyterian Church, in which there 
is so much learning and intelligence, ought to be 
ashamed to retain the doctrine that God, for his own 
glory, hath foreordained whatsoever comes to pass ; 
thereby making him the author of all the abomina- 
tions of men and devils in time and eternity. Some 



232 



THE DECREES OF THE 



sincere and good ministers may think ; that by not 
strenuously preaching the decrees from the pulpit, 
that not much harm can be done by still retaining 
them in the "Confession of Faith." But this is a great 
mistake ; for while the doctrine of fatality is known 
to be sanctioned by the church, many will practice 
upon it, to their utter destruction, by resting on the 
decrees, instead of forsaking sin and coming to Christ 
by repentance and faith for salvation through the 
power of the Holy Ghost. Many who have obtained 
soul-saving grace are settled down under the sound 
of, Once in grace always in grace ; and trusting in the 
doctrine of unconditional and final perseverance, are 
greatly prevented from that active, holy, gospel per- 
severance in which they would otherwise engage. 

But some may assert, that great good has been done 
by the instrumentality of Calvinists — and therefore 
why should there be so much opposition manifested 
against Calvinism. But we maintain that the good 
has not been done by publishing or preaching the 
decrees of unconditional election and reprobation, but 
by those Scripture truths which are interwoven with 
some parts of Calvinism, and the laudable zeal and 
faithfulness of many of its votaries in spiritual things* 
under the influence of the Holy Spirit, that is ever 
willing to apply gospel truth to the hearts and lives 
of those who are willing to be saved. But as false- 
hood never can do good — for that is contrary to its 
own nature — so must the doctrine of unconditional 
election and reprobation always tend to evil. And 



"CONFESSION OF FAITH." 



233 



notwithstanding our admission that good has been 
done, on the above principles, by Calvinistic instru- 
mentality, yet we have reason to believe that there are 
myriads in hell that would now be around the throne 
in heaven had it not been for the dire decrees of Cal- 
vinism. In the preceding pages, we have proceeded 
on general principles relative to the recorded theory 
of Calvinists, and to the deplorable and ruinous con- 
sequences ; but now we shall exhibit its monstrous 
absurdity, by bringing it to a stricter test of scriptural 
and logical demonstration, and therefore prove, by 
positive and infallible arguments, that the doctrine of 
unconditional election and reprobation came from the 
policy of Satan, instead of the counsels and decrees 
of the Lord Jehovah. 

II. Prove, by incontestable arguments, that 
God has no pleasure in the damnation of the 
wicked, and that there is in the gospel scheme 
a Free and Full Salvation for all mankind. 

In proof of this glorious doctrine, we will here 
quote the text, in open opposition to the soul-damning 
scheme of reprobation found in the " Confession of 
Faith ;" and, on the heaven-inspired page of Divine 
Revelation, it will stand as a triumphant refutation of 
Calvinism, in union with all our arguments. "Say 
unto them, As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no 
pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the 
wicked turn from his way and live : turn ye, turn ye 
from your evil ways ; for why will ye die, O house of 



234 



THE DECREES OF THE 



Israel ?" This passage of the Book of God stands, 
among many others, as an everlasting rampart against 
any reprobating decree of the Lord Jehovah, and 
clears the eternal throne of the awful aspersion that 
Calvinists have cast upon its everlasting Monarch, 
and therefore rests the damnation of impenitent sin- 
ners on their own heads, and not on an eternal decree 
of God. We can imagine no reasons why a holy and 
benevolent God would devise the misery of another, 
only as the penal result of disobedience to his laws, 
and which the transgressor could have obviated by a 
perseverance in righteousness, without being neces- 
sitated to sin against his rightful Sovereign, in fulfil- • 
ment of an eternal decree of reprobation, and against 
the existence of which I will now offer sufficient argu- 
ments to prove its entire falsehood. 

1. An intelligent being can be righteously consigned to 
punishment for the violation of just and holy laws ; but 
as no law could be transgressed from all eternity, we ash 
what reason Jehovah could see in man to induce him, 
prior to creation, to decree his damnation, otherwise than 
by a foresight of the sinner s voluntary action in wicked- 
ness ? Such a decree could never comport with bound- 
less goodness, inexorable justice, or the rectitude of 
good government, and would be in full accordance 
with the devil's dark and damning administration, 
that no decree of God has ever originated, and which 
no perfection of his nature can ever approbate. It is 
obviously unfortunate for predestinarians that they 
affirm that "God, for his own glory, hath foreor- 



"CONFESSION of faith." 



235 



dained whatsoever comes to pass." On that principle, 
he must have ordained sin as the means for the ac- 
complishment of damnation as the end — and he would 
be chargeable for both sin and suffering ; and there- 
fore that would make him a cruel Grod, and the article 
of faith horrible beyond description. 

2. Through envy and covetousness, one being might con- 
tribute to another's misery, to obtain something that the 
other possessed, to add to the aggrandizement of him- who 
would make an infringement on the other's rights ; or, 
through envy of the other's prosperity and happiness, 
might inflict punishment from a mere selfish desire. But, 
however these reasons might influence finite beings, 
they could have no application to the Infinite Jehovah. 
For, instead of envying the prosperity and happiness 
of any being, the perfections of his nature lead him 
to secure, as far as good government admits, the wel- 
fare of all. Any blessings that beings possess have 
been bestowed freely by the great Sovereign, in the 
order of nature and providence, and if taken away 
could not augment the wealth or happiness of the 
Infinite Donor, that created and owns all things ; and 
thus, for his own interest, he could consign no being 
to misery, or decree his unconditional damnation from 
all eternity. And as there could be no principle in 
Jehovah's existence, attributes, or administration to re- 
quire such a decree, for his own glory or the welfare 
of his creatures, we pronounce the Calvinistic decree 
of reprobation a monstrous heresy. 

3. A principle of wickedness might had one person to 



236 THE DECEEES OF THE 

make another miserable, to satisfy a thirst for cruelty, o? 
to obtain pleasure. But this principle could have no 
place in the existence of God, who is unchangeably 
holy and happy, and whose unbounded goodness could~ 
never consign any being to hell, that through law and 
righteousness he could take to heaven. Therefore, 
the theory that charges such cruelties and contradic- 
tions on God, could never arise from the inspiration 
of truth, but must have been originated in error. 
Now, if these three ways that I have explained, con- 
tain all the reasons why any being could devise the 
misery of another, it demonstrably follows, that the nil- 
originated God could never originate the cruel decree 
of reprobation. This doctrine of unconditional election 
and reprobation, is one of the greatest engines that 
ever Satan put in operation to ruin souls. For where 
the doctrine prevails, that our present and eternal 
states are fixed beyond our voluntary control in either 
righteousness or unrighteousness, and that no instru- 
mentality that man can use, will influence the pre- 
destinated ultimatum, otherwise than God has eter- 
nally determined, then how easily may careless sinners 
neglect those means of grace to which they are urged 
in the Bible, and without a wilful and timely atten- 
tion to which, through faith in Jesus Christ, by the 
influence of the Holy Ghost, they must inevitably 
perish. And though, as recorded in the "Confession 
of Faith," we may break the commandments in 
thought, word, and deed, yet, if we are elected to ever- 
lasting life by the eternal decree, we are still safe, and 



"CONFESSION OF FAITH." 



237 



need therefore have no fears of being eternally lost. 
According to this unscriptural scheme, the devil leads 
many to rest their spiritual interests for time and 
eternity on falsehood, when they ought to be rejoicing 
in the truths of the gospel, and not be blinded by the 
influence of an erroneous creed ; though we believe 
many predestinarians rise above the doctrines of their 
creed, and in possession of experimental religion per- 
severe on gospel principles, while others trusting in 
the decrees lose their souls. And instead of true 
Christians settling down in the assurance that they can 
never fall from grace, Paul says : " Stand fast there- 
fore, in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us 
free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of 
bondage — For if any man draw back, my soul shall 
have no pleasure in him." And also says : " But we 
are not of them who draw back unto perdition ; but 
of them that believe to the saving of the soul." In 
these passages of sacred Scripture, we may plainly 
see the necessity for Christians to be aroused to moral 
action, and not to slumber over the gulf of perdition 
to which it is reasonable to suppose that the decrees 
of Calvinism have led thousands. In further refuta^ 
tion of this dark and dangerous system, I shall 
present Calvinists with positive arguments derived 
from the perfections and proceedings of Jehovah in his 
ways and works of creation, government, redemption, 
and salvation as revealed in the Bible, all forming a 
rampart that fatalists never can climb, and from 
which they may shrink back confounded, while 



238 



THE DECEEES OF THE 



infallible principles are demonstrated to the overthrow 
of ruinous errors that have been denominated " doc- 
trines of grace/' and truths of God. 

4. God created all mankind for happiness, and 
originally pronounced them ■ very good. This is fully 
established in the history of creation given by Moses, 
and comports with all the perfections of infinite 
Deity. We now ask predestinarians, could Jehovah 
form man holy and happy as the result of his good- 
ness, and at tbe same time, design to destroy the moral 
perfection of his own work by leading him into sin 
here, and hell hereafter, as the consequences of an 
eternal decree ? We answer no ; for that would place 
the creating act and the eternal decree in contra- 
dictory opposition, and destroy the consistency of the 
Divine proceedings. Therefore, the image of God in 
which man was created, and the circumstances of hap- 
piness in which he was placed, prove the decree 
of eternal reprobation a palpable error. The West- 
minster Assembly of Divines that adopted it, held 
that " man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy 
him forever ;" and yet, strange to tell, both doctrines, 
' so contradictory in their nature, and opposite in their 
results, were retained in the " Confession- of Faith," 
which would suppose, contrary to our text, that God was 
glorified in an unconditional decree of eternal damna- 
tion, when he positively declares, that he has "no 
pleasure in the death of the wicked." Here we have 
a monument of ecclesiastical inconsistency, and a 
blind adherence to human articles, instead of impfli- 



"CONFESSION OF FAITII." 239 

citly relying on the volume of Inspiration that so 
gloriously maintains the character of God, in all his 
proceedings with angels, men, and devils. And it 
would greatly tend to the glory, and spiritual prosper- 
ity of the Presbyterian Church, if its ruling authorities, 
in conclave assemblage, would strike from their 
" Confession of Faith" the horrible doctrine of eternal 
reprobation. , 

5. We prove the doctrine of eternal reprobation false 
by the Moral Law of God. This law, which is holy, 
just, and good, commands righteousness and true 
holiness toward God and man. And being universal 
in its demands, on high and low, rich and poor, white 
and colored, Jew and Gentile, it carries forward the 
benevolent designs of the great Lawgiver, who has 
stamped it with legal perfection as a moral transcript 
of his own existence, and as a rule of moral action to 
be fulfilled according to the ability of all through 
faith in Jesus Christ, under the influence of the Holy 
Spirit, given to every man to enable him to act up to 
the requirements of the new dispensation of law and 
gospel in one great chain of unchangeable union. St. 
Paul combines the moral law and the gospel in the 
heaven-originated scheme of salvation, and though he 
knew that we are saved by grace through faith, and 
by the deeds of the law no flesh could be justified, 
he, nevertheless, asks the important legal and gospel 
question : " Do we then make void the law through 
faith ? God forbid : yea, we establish the law." We 
therefore maintain, that this divinely established law 



240 



THE DECEEES OF THE 



cannot be in opposition to any of Jehovah's eternal 
counsels ; for we make a vast difference between the 
determination or decrees of God, and the shameful 
decreed of Calvinism, that cannot stand the test of 
reason and revelation. All God's moral requirements 
of man must inevitably be consistent with this law, 
which in its fulfilment always tends to human happi- 
ness, for Solomon sayeth : " He that keepeth the law, 
happy is he." Therefore, God sayeth to transgressors 
of his law: "Seek ye the Lord while he may be 
found, call ye upon him while he is near. Let the 
wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his 
thoughts : and let him return unto the Lord, and he 
will have mercy upon him ; and to our God, for he 
will abundantly pardon." Now, if God decreed any 
man for destruction, could he so extensively issue his 
mandate against sin, and invite all to come unto him 
for salvation ? Sin is the cause of damnation, and 
could Jehovah consistently decree the end, while by a 
law, that is the transcript of his own nature, he com- 
mands us to refrain from evil, and strives by his 
Holy Spirit to keep us from sin as the only means 
though which that end could be accomplished? 
"Would he say, in the face of all worlds, that he 
willed the salvation of all on gospel principles, when 
he had eternally decreed the damnation of millions ? 
Nay, verily, God our Saviour, " who will have all 
men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of 
the truth," is " a God of truth, just and right is he 
so the law, which is divine in its author, reasonable in 



"CONFESSION OF FAITH." 241 

its requirements, and unchangeable in its nature, 
requiring every man to act up to its benign precepts, 
stands forth, as infallible evidence, that no sin here nor 
damnation hereafter, can be traced to a decree of the 
Infinite Lawgiver or charged upon it. And as no 
counsels of his wisdom can ever be in opposition to 
the commandments of his law, so the decree of uncon- 
ditional reprobation could not be founded in wisdom, 
holiness, justice, goodness, and truth, and must there- 
fore be a human or Satanic invention. 

6. We prove the decree of reprobation false, by the gift 
of the Holy Spirit to all men to restrain them from sin, 
and excite them to righteousness. Paul declares that 
" the manifestation of the spirit is given to every man 
to profit withal." Now, if the great God, as universal 
monarch over all, had sealed any man's doom from 
all eternity by unconditionally decreeing him for 
damnation, would he give his spirit to every man, and 
strive by that spirit to make a reprobate accept the 
salvation that the eternal decree had made impossible ! 
Surely a God, unchangeably good, and transcendently 
glorious, could not be the author of such awful 
cruelties and contradictions as are charged upon him 
by the creed of predestinarians. It would, indeed, be 
a glorious thing for the visible Church of Jesus Christ, 
if ministers of the sanctuary would openly and loudly 
proclaim the whole truth of God in opposition to 
these lamentable absurdities carried forward by the 
" Confession of Faith," and zealously invite, without 
any reservation, the vilest of the vile to come to 
16 



242 THE DECREES OF THE 

Christ for the pardon of all their sins, through faith 
in him, who, by his atonement, has made salvation 
possible for all men, and eternally snre to all who 
repent, believe, and obey. Heralds of the cross, inde- 
pendent of Calvinistic decrees, shonld ponr forth a 
tide of argument and energy to arouse the public to 
moral efforts, as instruments in the hands of God, who 
can save to the uttermost all that come unto him 
through faith in the sacrifice of Calvary, notwith- 
standing the unscriptural assertion that Christ died 
only for the elect as recorded in the Presbyterian 
" Confession of Faith." 

7. The unconditional decrees of predestination are 
proven false by the angels of God. The angel of the 
Lord, at the birth of Christ, said to the shepherds, 
" Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which 
shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day, 
in the city of David, a Saviour, which is Christ the 
Lord. And suddenly there was with the angel a 
multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, and 
saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, 
peace, good will toward men." And St. John "saw 
another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the 
everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on 
the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, 
and people, saying, with a loud voice : Fear God, and 
give glory to him." Here we find accredited mes- 
sengers from the throne of the King eternal, proclaim- 
ing a jubilee of heavenly peace and salvation for all 
mankind, according to the soul-saving principles 



"CONFESSION OF FAITH." 



243 



revealed in the Bible, and we now ask, whether we 
are to believe the " Institutes of Calvin" and the 
"Confession of Faith," that salvation is only for a 
chosen few, or the testimony of the angelic host, that 
it is free for all ? 

8. We maintain that salvation is mach possible to all 
menbythe atonement of Christ — the Son of the everlasting 
Jehovah. " For Cod so loved the world, that he gave 
his only begotten Son, that whosoever belie veth in 
him should not perish, but have everlasting life." 
This heaven-inspired passage beaming out in Cod's 
boundless benevolence to man, writes an eternal 
ichabod on the forehead of reprobation. But some, 
to avoid the horrible decree of Calvinistic reprobation 
and to cling to the rest of Calvinism, assert that they 
only believe in election and not in reprobation, and 
may therefore think, that on that ground, they can 
have exalted views of Cod, and at the same time hold 
up their faces in all other respects for predestination. 
But it is unfortunate for such, that the decrees of 
election and reprobation stand or fall together, for 
they are held to be from all eternity, and to include 
the whole human family on both sides of the Divine 
arrangement. It is therefore vain for any man to say 
I discard reprobation and hold unconditional election ; 
for if some, by Divine partiality, were chosen out of 
the universal family of mankind to life eternal, and 
others were left to perish without the possibility 
of salvation, we arrive at the same conclusion in the 
end, as when we professedly believe in the decree 



244 



THE DECREES OF THE 



of reprobation at the beginning. We must, therefore, 
meet the subject fairly, and if it will not stand the 
test, let us renounce it forever, and openly rely on the 
doctrine of free grace for all, as gloriously comporting 
with the perfections of the infinite Deity. 

Mr. Calvin says : "All men are not created for the 
same end ; but some are foreordained to eternal life, 
others to eternal damnation. So according as every 
man was created for the one end or the other, we say, 
he was elected, that is, predestinated to life, or repro- 
bated, that is predestinated to damnation." And he 
speaks with utter contempt of all who illogically 
endeavor to separate election and reprobation. For 
he says : " Many, as it were, to excuse God own elec- 
tion and deny reprobation. But this is quite silly and 
childish. For election cannot stand without reproba- 
tion. Whom God passes by, those he reprobates. It 
is one and the same thing." This great man here 
shows the foolishness of endeavoring to separate the 
decrees, and we must, therefore, retain or renounce 
both. And when a man contends for the one and 
rejects the other, he shows his weakness in logical 
argumentation, as stated by the great founder of Cal- 
vinistic theology, and the able champion of uncon- 
ditional election and reprobation. 

The apostle Paul, in vindication of the amplitude 
of the atonement says : " But we see Jesus, who was 
made a little lower than the angels for the suffering 
of death, crowned with glory and honor ; that he, by 
the grace of God, should taste death for every man." 



"CONFESSION OF FAITH." * 



245 



Every man, means the whole human family taken 
separately and singly, and amounts to the same as 
pantos, or all, according to the Greek text, and plainly 
establishes, with other passages of sacred Scripture, the 
doctrine that Christ's sacrifice made salvation possible 
to all mankind; and, therefore, those that perish 
cannot blame Jehovah the Father, nor Jesus Christ 
the Son, for any limitation of the atonement for the 
salvation of sinners. " For God sent not his Son into 
the world to condemn the world, but that the world 
through him might be saved." And " he is the propi- 
tiation for our sins : and not for ours only, but, 
also, for the sins of the whole world." But some, to 
avoid the contradiction of setting the decree of Cal- 
vinism and the atonement of Christ in contradictory 
opposition, may assert that all for whom he died were 
of the elect. But if they were absolutely foreordained 
to everlasting glory, and the decree could not be 
broken, then Christ, in flying to save them, performed 
an extra work, seeing that, according to Calvinism, 
they could never be lost. And if, to avoid this absurd- 
ity, it be contended that the atonement was implied 
in the decree, then we see in what an awful dilemma 
this would place Jehovah's proceedings. First, to 
decree the eternal salvation of the elect, then to create 
them holy and happy, and afterward to lead them into 
sin, and expose them to hell. For it is said in the 
"Confession .of Faith:" "All mankind, by their fall, 
lost communion with God, are under his wrath and 
curse, and so made liable to all the miseries of this 



246 THE DECKEES OF THE 

life, to death itself, and to the pains of hell forever." 
Now here the creed maintains that all mankind are 
liable to the pains of hell forever ; and yet, in another 
place, it asserts the eternal election and final persever- 
ance of all the saints ; and, therefore, the creed brings 
ns to the conclusion that by the fall the elect were 
exposed to eternal misery, and by the decree they 
never could be in danger of that misery, except the 
eternal decree could fail. These, Calvinists ! are 
some of your recorded contradictions, and these, 
according to your system, must be charged on the 
All- wise God; for your theory is that "he hath fore- 
ordained whatsoever comes to pass ;" and it has come 
to pass that Calvinism has produced some egregious 
contradictions, as may be plainly seen in the " Confes- 
sion of Faith," and the writings of some Calvinistic 
ministers. Mr. Wesley states, that the Assembly of 
Divines who met at Westminster in the last century, 
speak as follows, see volume 6, page 202 : " Whatever 
happens in time, was unchangeably determined from 
all eternity. God ordained or ever the world was 
made, all the things that should come to pass therein. 
The greatest and the smallest were equally prede- 
termined: In particular, all the thoughts, all the 
words, all the actions of every child of man ; all that 
every man thinks, or speaks, or does, from his birth 
till his spirit returns to God that gave it. It follows, 
that no man can do either more or less good, or more 
or less evil, than he does. None can think, speak, or 
act any otherwise than he does, not in any the smallest 



"CONFESSION OF FAITH." 



247 



circumstance. In all he is bound by an invisible, but 
more than adamantine chain. No man can move his 
head or foot, open or shut his eyes, lift his hand, or 
stir a finger, any otherwise than as God determined he 
should from all eternity." And the doctrine of Cal- 
vin, on this point, is equally strong, for he declared, 
that " nothing is more absurd than to think any thing 
is done but by the ordination of God." Now what 
but a perverted theology, an erroneous education, or 
the father of lies, coulck ever lead men to believe these 
unreasonable, unscriptural, and God- dishonoring doc- 
trines of predestination. And it is truly astonishing, 
that even the devil himself could make any intelligent 
man believe in contradictions, that are so glaringly 
inconsistent with the nature and attributes of God, as 
plainly recorded in the Holy Scriptures. 

9. The total absurdity of reprobation is, proven by the 
oath of God. This is an immovable ground on which 
to stand against Calvinism before all worlds. This is 
the position that our text enables us to occupy in this 
theological controversy ; and its unchangeable truth 
sounds in the ears of a true penitent, seeking salva- 
tion, more melodiously than the music of a thousand 
harps, and calls upon him to rely with unshaken con- 
fidence on Jehovah's eternal veracity. " For men 
verily swear by the greater ; and an oath for confirma- 
tion is to them an end of all strife. Wherein God, 
willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of 
promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it 
by an oath ; that by two immutable things, in which 



248 



THE DECKEES OF THE 



it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a 
strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay- 
hold upon the hope set before us." And, " when God 
made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by- 
no greater, he sware bj himself." This unchangeable 
truth that secured the heavenly inheritance to all the 
saints, or heirs of the promise, declares that he has no 
pleasure in the death of sinners, and he confirms his de- 
claration in the form of an oath, and swears that he 
has no pleasure in the death of the wicked. Now if 
Jehovah had reprobated these wicked men to eternal 
death, could he swear that he had no pleasure in his 
own arrangement, that/ on Calvinistic principles, 
doomed them to destruction ? Could he urge them to 
turn and live, when he had unchangeably decreed that 
they should die ? 

Reader, read again the immutable oath of God, and 
then be horribly astonished at Calvin's awful decrees, 
and at the theological prominence that they are still 
allowed to have in the Presbyterian "Confession of 
Faith!" Give no sleep' to your eyes, nor slumber to 
your eyelids, until you enter an unalterable protest 
against such a God-dishonoring system. Be not de- 
terred from this course, because there are many good 
people in Calvinistic churches ; for they are those who 
serve God in opposition to, or act above, the real nature 
and influence of their creed, while at the same time 
many others are carrying out the unscriptural scheme, 
in all its deleterious influence in their own experience, 
under the professed belief that all things, past, present, 



CONFESSION OF FAITH." 



249 



and to come, are unchangeably arid eternally fixed by 
the Lord Jehovah, as asserted in Calvin's Institutes. 

10. But the erroneousness of this unscripiural theory 
is finally shown in its being contrary to the honor and 
glory of God. He emphatically declares that he "will 
not give his glory to another, nor his praise to graven 
images." This not only arises from his abstract and 
unoriginated right, but for the happiness of his intelli- 
gent creation, whose blessedness is always secured and 
perpetuated by ascribing the praise and glory that 
belong to his infinite existence and exalted character; 
and the whole history of his proceedings toward the 
human family, proves that he looks to the twofold 
principle of Divine glory and man's happiness. An 
incontestible argument arises from his benevolent 
course toward us to disprove the doctrine of eternal 
reprobation. And though by enforcing the penalty 
of violated law in guarding the rights of the innocent 
and punishing sinners, some glory would redound to 
God's inexorable justice in the damnation of the im- 
penitent, he would, nevertheless, be far more glorified 
by the salvation and praises of the righteous in heaven 
than he could be by the agonies and opposition of the 
damned in hell. These facts afford infallible proof 
against the decree of reprobation that casts such a dark 
shade over the perfections of Jehovah. For as he could 
not, in accordance with his own glory and the un- 
bounded benevolence of his nature, bring angels and 
men into existence for the eternal purpose of seeing 
their torments and hearing their groans ; so must the 



250 



THE DECREES OF THE 



decree of reprobation be eternally false, and, therefore, 
could not be consistent with, his "glorious justice" or 
" sovereign pleasure." 

11. But what writes the decree of reprobation deepest 
in the annals of eternal infamy is, that it makes infants, 
in the smiles and beauty of innocence, objects of Divine 
wrath and heirs of hell. For if any of the human 
family are reprobated from all eternity, infants are of 
that number, for all human beings, since the existence 
of Adam and Eve, were once in a state of infancy ; and 
when reprobate infants die, they must, according to a 
logical definition of Calvinism, be sent to the damna- 
tion of eternity. We may now exclaim, O, horrible, 
horrible, horrible decree ! This deduction from pre- 
destinarian premises fully comports with the "Con- 
fession of Faith," in the case of infants, where it says: 
" Elect infants, dying in infancy, are regenerated and 
saved by Christ through the Spirit, who worketh when, 
and where, and how he pleaseth." Wow these words, 
fairly explained and rightly understood, prove the two 
states of elect and reprobate infants. For if no such 
* distinction is intended, why was it not said, all infants 
dying in infancy, instead'of "elect infants." But if all 
infants had been included in the scheme of predesti- 
narians, then, that would have ruined the whole theory 
of reprobation ; for all infants elected would be the 
same as the election of all Adam's family, and, there- 
fore, the reprobating scheme of damnation would have 
been overthrown, and the doctrine of Calvin proven 
false, where he says : "All men are not created for the 



"CONFESSION OF FAITH." 251 

same end ; but some are foreordained to eternal life, 
others to eternal damnation." Now this theory, in 
which infant damnation is logically implied, is highly 
dishonorable to the Grod of unbounded benevolence, 
and robs him of that glory that would beam around 
the eternal glorification of those infants that Calvinism 
would doom to eternal banishment from the presence 
of Grod, and from the glory of his power, wisdom, and 
goodness, that would be tarnished before all worlds, if 
even one little flaxen-haired, sparkling-eyed, and 
blooming-cheeked innocent infant would be damned 
in hell. And yet, awful to state, the decree of repro- 
bation implies the damnation of many such infants. 
And, 0, dreadful to relate, when an affectionate mother 
would be smiling over the countenance of her beauti- 
ful babe, folded in her parental arms, she could not 
tell, according to Calvinism, whether it was one of the 
elect or a doomed reprobate ! For, as I have stated, 
all mankind, since the days of Adam, were once 
in a state of infancy ; and if any have been repro- 
bated, infants were of that number; and we there- 
fore prove, according to our proposition, that this doc- 
trine of eternal reprobation writes the decree of Cal- 
vinism, as found in the Presbyterian " Confession of 
Faith," awfully deep in the annals of eternal degrada- 
tion and falsehood. Some, however, to avoid this 
deplorable conclusion arising from Calvinistic pre- 
mises concerning infant damnation, may assert that no 
reprobate dies in infancy, and that all who die in an 
infantile state are of the elect ; but this would make 



252 



THE DECREES % 0F THE 



the decree appear still more horrible, for that would 
imply that God makes all the reprobate live to an age 
sufficient to commit actual sin, and thereby to receive 
an amount of punishment greater than their capacities 
could endure if damned in infancy! But whether we 
view the result of reprobation in relation to infants or 
adults, and whatever side may be held as the most 
horrible, both are obviously too awful to be contem- 
plated as unchangeable and unconditional consequences 
of a decree of a holy and benevolent God. 

Take, therefore, the decrees contained in the West- 
minster Confession of Faith as the doctrines of the 
Presbyterian Church, to which ministers, ruling elders, 
deacons, and licentiates are required to subscribe, as 
they are now found in the latest edition of the " Con- 
fession of Faith," adopted by both Old and New 
School Presbyterians, and the substance of which is 
taught to their children in the Shorter Catechism, as is 
plainly proven, where the question is asked and an- 
swered in these words : " What are the decrees of God ? 
The decrees of God are, his eternal purpose according 
to the counsel of his will, whereby, for his own glory, 
he hath foreordained whatsoever comes to pass." Wow 
let any ministers, in explaining these decrees, endeavor, 
by sophistry and elaborate sermons on the "sover- 
eignty of God," to mitigate their cruelty and dread- 
ful aspect, still they are, to all intents and purposes, 
when fairly and logically considered, horrible decrees, 
and of which the Lord Jehovah, as an infinitely holy 
and benevolent being, never could be the author ; and 



"CONFESSION OF FAITH." 



253 



they must be traced to the policy of Satan or to the 
perverted minds of mistaken theologians. And having 
now sufficiently expatiated on predestinarian princi- 
ples, according to our explanatory limits, it may, in 
conclusion, be, therefore, triumphantly asserted, to the 
glory of God and the triumph of truth, that I have 
demonstrably proven from the unoriginated perfec- 
tions of eternal Godhead, and his creating us holy and 
happy, and from the commandments of his law, influ- 
ences of his Spirit, testimony of his angels, atonement 
of his Son, immutable oath, and unchangeable veracity 
manifested in the text and other parts of the Bible, 
that the Calvinistic decrees of unconditional election 
and reprobation are false in their contents, blasphemous 
in their nature, horrible in their aspect, and, in many 
instances, soul-damning in their tendency ; and I call 
on all ministers of the sanctuary, charged with a com- 
mission from the throne of God, and possessing^ the 
ability to vindicate the character of the all-glorious 
Jehovah from the aspersions that the decrees of Cal- 
vinism cast upon him, to rise at once in the strength 
that God, reason, and revelation furnish, and sweep 
these monstrous doctrines from the world, and pro- 
claim, without reservation, a free and full salvation for 
all mankind, through the sacrifice of Calvary, the 
exercise of faith, and the power of the Holy Ghost. 



SERMON IX. 

THE 

GREAT DAT OF JUDGMENT. 



' For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every 
secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil." — 
Ecclesiastes xii. 14. 

Theke is in the Book of Ecclesiastes much inter- 
esting and useful instruction concerning the things 
of this life — while, at the same time, we are led to 
serious reflections on the solemnities of death. Amidst 
the great profusion of blessings that nature and Provi- 
dence have bestowed upon us, we are commanded to 
rejoice ; for, in relation to the concerns of the present 
life, "there is nothing better for a man, than that he 
should eat and drink, and that he should make his 
soul enjoy good in his labor." And Solomon sayeth : 
" This also I saw, that it was from the hand of God. 
For God giveth to a man that is good in his sight, 
wisdom, and knowledge, and joy: but to the sinner 
he giveth travail, to gather and to heap up, that he 
may give to him that is good before God." And while 
the inspired author of this wonderful book expatiates 
(254) 



THE GREAT DAY OF JUDGMENT. 255 

eloquently on the great kingdom of nature, lie leads 
us up to the Omnipotent Architect of all, and calls 
upon the young to remember their Creator in the 
days of their youth, before the evil days come, when 
they would have no pleasure in them ; and therefore 
exclaimed, in the strength of his own experience, " I 
know that it shall be well with them that fear God, 
which fear before him : But it shall not be well with 
the wicked." On these explanatory principles of 
heaven-inspired truth, he looked forward to the con- 
summation of all earthly things, and prophetically 
called on all succeeding generations to listen to the 
great ultimatum to which he specially referred, say- 
ing — " Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter : 
Fear God, and keep his commandments ; for this is 
the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every 
work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether 
it be good, or whether it be evil." And in discours- 
ing on which, I design, in the first place, to prove the 
certainty of a Day of Judgment ; and secondly, ex- 
hibit the Judge, the circumstances attendant on, and 
the immediate consequences following that great day. 

I. Prove the absolute certainty of a Day of 
General Judgment. 

1. By the Bible. This Book of books is the great 
standard of Christian theology ; and we never wish 
to even intimate, that we can furnish any argument in 
proof of the Day of Judgment stronger than that 
derived from its sacred contents. All other evidences 



256 



THE GREAT DAY OF JUDGMENT. 



that may be produced can only be acknowledged as 
corroborative of Scripture facts, which alone must 
be the inspired foundation of all ecclesiastical or- 
thodoxy. Proceeding on this infallible principle, we 
triumphantly proclaim that patriarchs, prophets, and 
Christ himself, fully established the doctrine of the 
Day of Judgment. And though the world was twenty- 
four hundred years old before any part of the Bible 
was written, yet the truth of a coming judgment was 
given by inspiration before the days of Moses, who 
was the first sacred historian. Therefore Enoch, the 
seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying: "Behold, 
the Lord cometh with ten thousand of his saints, to 
execute judgment upon all." Job, in referring to the 
resurrection as a prelude to judgment, said : " I know 
that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at > 
the latter day upon the earth : and though after my 
skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I 
see God." David declares that " The Lord shall en- 
dure forever : he hath prepared his throne for judg- 
ment. And he shall judge the world in righteousness. 
Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence : a fire 
shall devour before him, and it shall be very tem- 
pestuous round about him. He shall call to the 
heavens from above, and to the earth, that he may 
judge his people. Gather my saints together unto 
me; those that have made a covenant with me by 
sacrifice. And the heavens shall declare his righteous- 
ness: for God is judge himself." Daniel sayeth: "I 
beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient 



THE GREAT DAY OF JUDGMENT. 257 



of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, 

and the hair of his head like the pure wool; his 
throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as 
burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth 
from before him : thousand thousands ministered unto 
him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood be- 
fore him: the judgment was set, and the books were 
opened. 71 

Jesus Christ said unto his disciples : " When the 
Son of Man shall come in his glory, and all the holy 
angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of 
his glory. And before him shall be gathered all 
nations ; and he shall separate them one from another, 
as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats : And 
he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats 
.on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on 
his right hand, Gome, ye blessed of my Father, in- 
herit the kingdom prepared for you from the founda- 
tion of the world. Then shall he say also unto them 
on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into ever- 
lasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels." 
And when Paul was brought before Felix for preach- 
ing the truth of God and the testimony of Jesus 
Christ, he "reasoned of righteousness, temperance, 
and judgment to come," until Felix trembied, and by 
the power of the Holy Ghost and the thunder of the 
apostle's eloquence, he felt himself responsible for all 
his wickedness to the Eternal Judge who shall preside 
over human affairs on the great day of ultimate de- 
cision. Peter says : " The day of the Lord will come 
17 



258 



THE GREAT DAY OF JUDGMENT. 



as a thief in the night ; in the which the heavens shall 
pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall 
melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works 
that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that 
all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of 
persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and 
godliness, looking for and hasting unto the coming 
of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire, 
shall be dissolved ; and the elements shall melt with 
fervent heat." And St. John, the divine, ushers in the 
grand scene, blazing with explanatory splendor, in 
saying: "And I saw a great white throne, and him 
that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the 
heaven fled away ; and there was found no place for 
them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand 
before God ; and the books were opened : and another* 
book was opened, which is the book of life : and the 
dead were judged out of those things which were 
written in the books, according to their works. And 
the sea gave up the dead which were in it ; and death 
and hell delivered up the dead which were in them : 
and they were judged every man according to their 
works." Now, this passage of Sacred Scripture, if we 
had no other, would be amply sufficient to establish 
the doctrine of a future judgment, in opposition to 
the philology of philologists, the scepticism of in- 
fidels, and the influence of devils. And yet, in the 
light of this and all other passages that beam from 
the Divine oracles around this important subject, 
many profess to believe that there will be no Day of 



THE GREAT DAY OF JUDGMENT. 259 

Judgment, and therefore apply the Scripture texts 
that prove and portray that grand arrangement of 
the Almighty Sovereign to other transactions along 
the range of time. But as all such notions pass away 
before the truths of revelation, to which we have re- 
ferred, like shadows over the rock, we need now follow 
them no farther by scriptural testimony, but adduce 
other proofs corroborative of the inspired statements 
contained in the Bible. 

2. Conscience, influenced by the Holy Spirit, and rest- 
ing on the inspired volume for theological information, 
points to the Bay of Judgment for rewards and punish- 
ments to he distributed at the end of our probation. But a 
minute description of the nature and operations of 
conscience need not be given in this sermon, as we 
merely introduce it as a witness in favor of the Day of 
Judgment, without intending to explain it in all its 
moral bearings. Every man who attends to the feel- 
ings of his own heart, knows that he has a monitor, or 
conscience, approving or condemning him for all his 
proceedings. And this inward power of the soul, 
enlightened by the word and Spirit of God, points the 
accountable agent to the judgment seat, and compels 
him to believe himself guilty or innocent, according 
to its revealed decisions ; and thus to deny a day of 
future retribution would be to contradict the enlight- 
ened and honest intellectual exercises of our own 
minds, the calm dictates of our own understanding, 
the result of our best judgment, and the inward voice 
of the Divine Spirit, that is given to every man, under 



260 THE GREAT DAY OF JUDGMENT. 

the sound of salvation, to confirm him in the truths of 
the Bible. We are led to believe that those who deny 
a day of -righteous retribution, are unaccountably 
ignorant of Bible theology ; or being influenced by 
the devil, in the accomplishment of some sinister and 
earth-born purposes, they wilfully and wickedly deny 
the truth ; and therefore are hastening to the bar of 
God to give an awful account for yielding to the se- 
ductions of Satan, instead of believingly listening to 
the voice of the Lord Jehovah, that would lead them 
to an acquittal in the Day of Judgment, and to life 
everlasting in heaven according to the inspired dic- 
tates of a good conscience. 

3. The equality and justice of God's administration, 
are incontestable proof of a Day of J udgment. If we deny 
a day of impartial retribution, we envelope Jehovah's 
administration in this world in a dilemma, from which 
no ingenuity can ever extricate it. For here the 
wicked, in many respects are honored and exalted, 
while the righteous are often afflicted, persecuted, and 
oppressed. Many in this world lie under public 
charges of guilt and condemnation, which the Day of 
Judgment will remove, and show before all beholding 
worlds that they are innocent of the crimes for which 
they were punished here ; while on the other hand, 
many perpetrators of dark and daring deeds pass on 
in this life as if they were the excellent, and honorable, 
and righteous of the earth. And when some are 
brought to tribunals of human justice, they are often 
extricated from legal punishment, through bribery, or 



THE GEE AT DAY OF JUDGMENT. 261 

ignorant decisions, influenced by special and unright- 
eous pleadings. But the Day of Judgment will bring 
to light the hidden things of dishonesty and of truth 
and righteousness ; and then virtue and vice will 
appear in their proper colors, and a faithful verdict be 
awarded. It would be absolutely impossible to re- 
concile the past and present history of this world with 
an impartial administration of Divine justice in human 
affairs, if it were not for a day of righteous judgment, 
and rewards and punishments consequent on the pro- 
bationary state of the human family. Some, without 
understanding the real nature of things here, have had 
hard thoughts of their Creator, and have foolishly 
said : " It is vain to serve God ;" and impiously asked : 
" What profit is it that we have kept his ordinance, 
and that we have walked mournfully before the Lord 
of hosts ? And now we call the proud happy : yea, 
they that work wickedness are set up ; yea, they that 
tempt God are even delivered." And even some good 
men have been somewhat envious when the wicked 
were spreading themselves "like a green bay tree," 
not considering that u a little that a righteous man 
hath is better than the riches of many wicked." 

Asaph, as recorded in the seventy-third Psalm, was 
led from the prosperity of the ungodly into incorrect 
views of Providence, until he went into the sanctuary 
and saw their end. " For," said he, " I was envious 
at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the 
wicked. For there are no bands in their death : but 
their strength is firm. They are not in trouble as 



262 



THE GREAT DAY OF JUDGMENT. 



other men : neither are they plagued like other men. 
Therefore pride compasseth them about as a chain ; 
violence covereth them as a garment. Their eyes 
stand out with fatness : they have more than heart 
could wish. They are corrupt, and speak wickedly 
concerning oppression ; they speak loftily. They set 
their mouth against the heavens, and their tongue 
walketh through the earth. Behold, these are the un- 
godly who prosper in the world ; they increase in 
riches. Verily, I have cleansed my heart in vain, and 
washed my hands in innocency. For all the day long 
have I been plagued, and chastened every morning. 
If I say, I will speak thus : behold, I should offend 
against the generation of thy children. When I 
thought to know this, it was too painful for me ; until 
I went into the sanctuary of God ; then understood I 
their end." Now these views of Asaph are precisely 
those which the present and past states and conditions 
of mankind are calculated to inspire in the minds of 
those who are comparatively ignorant of the ways of 
Providence with regard to the seeming inequality of 
this world's administration, as connected with the 
sovereignty of a God of general jurisdiction, under 
which the unrighteous, and even the desperately 
wicked, have often the greatest worldly prosperity. 
But when we repair to the inspired word of God, and 
look through that to the Day of Judgment, when the 
whole history of this world shall be understood, and 
the transactions of mankind be fairly exhibited, then 
we may triumphantly say, before all beholding worlds : 



THE GREAT DAY OF JUDGMENT. 



263 



"Just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints." 
In view of these facts, so fraught with the glory of 
God and the destinies of mankind, we may now ex- 
ultingly exclaim, O, how deplorably dark and direful 
are the doctrines of those, who would rob us of the 
Great Day of Judgment, where we can "justify the 
ways' of- God with men," and openly ascribe righteous- 
ness to our Maker in the administration of this fallen 
world ! 

II. The Judge, the Circumstances attendant on, 
and the immediate Consequences of, the Day of 
Judgment. 

1. The Judge. Jesus Christ alone, as exhibited in 
the Bible, is adequate for the great work of judging 
the world in righteousness. For as Jehovnh the 
Father can never employ an improper person to ac- 
complish a proper end, so when infinite wisdom chose 
the only begotten Son for the momentous work of 
judgment, we may be assured that he is every way 
qualified for the great task assigned him, and that the 
proceedings of that day shall be terminated according 
to the principles of eternal fairness. And though be- 
tween the Father and the Son there is the most inti- 
mate union and oneness of operation, yet St. John 
saith, " The Father judgeth no man, but hath committed 
all judgment unto the Son ; that all men should honor 
the Son, even as they honor the Father." In the Acts 
of the Apostles it is declared that God " hath appointed 
a day in the which he will judge the world in right- 



264 THE GREAT DAY OF JUDGMENT. 



eousness by that man whom he hath ordained ; whereof 
he hath given assurance unto all men in that he hath 

raised him from the dead. 7 ' The Apostle Paul, in 
writing to the Church at Thessalonica, says: "And to 
you who are troubled, rest with us, when the Lord 
Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty 
angels in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that 
know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our 
Lord Jesus Christ ; who shall be punished with ever- 
lasting destruction from the presence of the LorS and 
from the glory of his power; when he shall come to 
be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them 
that believe." And in his Epistle to the Romans he 
declares that " we shall all stand before the judgment 
seat of Christ." In these passages we have the fact 
indisputably established that the Son of God will be 
the presiding Judge in that great day when God will 
bring every work into judgment, whether it be good 
or evil. Christ himself says : "All things are delivered 
unto me of my Father, and no man knoweth the Son, 
but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, 
save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will 
reveal him." From this knowledge, as Son of God r he 
understands all the rights of the eternal throne, the 
requirements of law, and the demands of justice ; and 
as Son of man, he knows the extent of our ability, 
the feelings of our hearts, and the state of our nature, 
and can, therefore, be a merciful, gracious, and just 
Judge in things pertaining to God and man. For 
having overcome the world, resisted the devil, and 



THE GREAT DAY OF JUDGMENT. 265 



endured the trials, sorrows, and sufferings of life, lie is 
thus prepared, from the humanity of his own exist- 
ence, to be a proper Judge of the exact amount of 
righteousness that all are able to perform, and the suf- 
ferings for righteousness' sake that all are capacitated 
to endure, and can accordingly determine the amount 
of rewards and punishments that all ought to receive. 
On these principles, that support the honor of the 
throne and the juridical rights of the subjects, he could 
triumphantly say, in the language of the Apocalypse : 
" Behold, I come quickly ; and my reward is with me, 
to give every man according as his work shall be." 
And though ages would have to roll their ample 
round, from the time of this announcement to his 
second advent in the clouds of heaven with power and 
great glory, yet when all these ages would be com- 
pared to eternity, they would form no exception to the 
truth of his assertion, when he said, " behold, I come 
quickly." And now, leaving the time of his coming 
a profound secret with God himself, let the universal 
Church say, with one voice : "Amen. Even so, come, 
Lord Jesus." 

2. The circumstances attendant on the Day of Judg- 
ment, and the immediate results of the decisions of the 
Supreme Judge. First. " The Lord himself shall de- 
scend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the 
archangel, and with the triumph of God." 0, how 
different will be his second coming to that of the first ! 
He then came in the humble form of the babe of Beth- 
lehem. But when he shall come in the glory of his 



266 



THE GREAT DAY OF JUDGMENT. 



Father, and all the holy angels with him, then shall 
his enemies that rose in rebellion against him be ut- 
terly confounded, and the triumphs of his saints be 
eternally completed. The transcendent majesty of the 
Judge, the unparalleled splendors of the throne, and 
the awful conflagration of the world, will then convince 
infidels that circumstances of tremendous mao-nitude 

o 

surround the Almighty Sovereign, when, with the en- 
signs of eternal royalty, he appears, according to his 
promise, to judge the world in righteousness. 

Secondly. "The heavens shall pass away with a 
great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent 
heat." The atmospheric heavens here specified shall 
pass away in dreadful confusion and fearful sounds. 
For when contrary elements of fire, and water, and 
tempests, and storms, shall come in fearful contact, and 
the laws which kept them in their organized sphere 
of natural action are dissolved, the explosion will be 
awful beyond all that fancy can imagine or eloquence 
proclaim. It is evident that the atmospheric region 
above and around the earth is called heaven by the 
sacred writers, and may amount to the prophetic de- 
scription of the apostle, without including the solar 
heaven of sun, moon, and stars in the conflagration. 

Mos^s spake of the " fowl in the open firmament of 
heaven." Job said : God " teacheth us more than the 
beasts of the earth, and maketh us wiser than the 
fowls of heaven." Jeremiah exclaims : " I beheld, 
and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the 
heavens were fled." Hosed, in proclaiming God's 



THE GKEAT DAY OF JUDGMENT. 267 



judgments, says: "Therefore shall the land mourn, 
and every one that dwelleth therein shall languish, 
with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of 
heaven." And St. John, in his vision, " saw an angel 
standing in the sun ; and he cried with a loud voice, 
saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, 
Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper 
of the great God, that ye may eat the flesh of kings, 
and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, 
and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, 
and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both 
small and great." Now, from these passages we incon- 
testably prove that the atmospheric space, where the 
feathered inhabitants soar, was anciently called heaven. 
And as fowls of heaven, dew of heaven, clouds of 
heaven, and winds of heaven, were modes of expression 
used by ancient and modern writers, in reference to 
the space occupied by the circumambient air, and above 
which no fowls, dews, and clouds could exist, we are 
justified in proclaiming that the atmospheric heaven 
shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements 
shall melt with fervent heat. ' But notwithstanding the 
truth of this explanatory declaration, which philosophy 
and the Bible fairly establish, some suppose the solar 
heaven is also implied in the wide spread ruin. For 
as the earth is a part of the solar system, they think 
it reasonable that the whole six days' work of the Cre- 
ator will be involved in the same destruction, as all 
the parts are so intimately connected with those cen- 
tripetal and centrifugal forces that are in operation 



268 THE GREAT DAY OF JUDGMENT. 

with the sun, as the great centre of all. But, on the 

other hand, it might be plausibly asserted that, as the 
conflagration of the earth will not destroy any of the 
laws of nature, or throw it off from the orbit of its 
" regular revolutions, therefore the whole sj^stem could 
proceed, in all its laws and regulations, as if there 
were no conflagration of the earth and of the surround- 
ing: elements. And this would be no inconsiderable 
argument against the conflagration of the sun, moon, 
and other solar orbs. But as Inspiration has not fur- 
nished a sufficiency of positive data to settle the con- 
troversy, there must be a great latitude allowed to 
human opinions and controversial explanations on 
both sides, while all settle down on the scriptural ac- 
count of the conflagration of the world and the im- 
portant transactions surrounding the Great Day of 
Judgment. But it may be also stated, that, as the in- 
habitants of those worlds may be standing firm in 
their allegiance to God, it would be inconsistent with 
the rectitude of his administration to spread such deso- 
lation through their unfallen abodes, merely because 
Adam and Eve sinned in their terrestrial Paradise, and 
brought misery and death into this lower world, that 
rolls its little round as one of the smallest orbs in the 
regions of immensity. Now, this argument, at first 
sight, seems an impassable barrier in the way of those 
who believe in the conflagration of the solar heavens 
at the Day of Judgment ; but still further reflection 
leads to the idea that, though those worlds may be in- 
habited by righteous or unrighteous intelligences, or 



THE GREAT DAY OF JUDGMENT. 269 



by both, yet their conflagration could still be main- 
tained without any infringement on that Divine recti- 
tude which must be manifest throughout universal 
empire. For in the Day of Judgment it would be as 
easy for Jehovah to transmit his obedient worshippers 
from those orbs to another and more glorious state of 
existence, as to raise us from this world to crowns and 
thrones of glory in heaven ; and, therefore, any argu- 
ment founded on the seeming injustice of such a pro- 
cedure with regard to the righteous would be actually 
overthrown. And as it respects the supposition of 
unrighteous intelligences, who may have risen in rebel- 
lion against their Sovereign, and thereby forfeited all 
claim to happiness, God could bring them to judgment 
for their transgressions ; and after passing upon them 
the sentence of righteous condemnation, could openly 
and consistently send them to a place of punishment 
in some other part of his realm, as they could have no 
well grounded claim to their former inheritance that 
they forfeited by transgression of law. We can, how- 
ever, triumphantly declare, that if the fire that shall 
burn our world was to wrap the whole solar heavens 
in one general blaze, then, amidst the red reality of 
flaming worlds, we might lift up our heads and rejoice 
that all would comport with the principles of eternal 
fairness and the unchangeable rectitude of good gov- 
ernment. And now, leaving a further development 
of solar facts relative to burning worlds, among those 
" secret things " that " belong to God," and allowing 
every man a reasonable exercise of his own under- 



270 THE GREAT DAY OF JUDGMENT. 



standing on points not clearly revealed in the Bible, I 
shall proceed to state, with indubitable certainty, what 
another circumstance attendant on the Day of Judg- 
ment will be. 

Thirdly". That " the earth, and the works that are 
therein, shall be burned up." Yarious theories have 
been adopted for the accomplishment of this awful 
work. Some have supposed that a comet, red with 
uncommon wrath, might, in due time, sweep so near 
this earth, or strike it with such tremendous fury, as 
to make it blaze forth in a moment, in accordance 
with its long-promised conflagration. But such should 
reflect that comets, in their seeming eccentric sweep 
through space, are guided by the same undeviating 
laws that regulate and revolve all worlds, and could 
not leave their own orbits to infract the course of our 
world without the performance of a miraculous pro- 
cess upon them by the Grod of Nature. Others have 
thought, that by an approximating power of the earth 
toward the sun, she will, in a succession of ages, be 
engulfed in his flaming orb, and thus undergo the 
conflagration specified by the sacred writers. This 
theory, however, seems to proceed on the principle of 
the old philosophy, that the sun is a globe of fire, and 
that by his voracious and burning energies he could 
easily consume the world and all things therein. But 
Dr. Herschel says' "that the sun is a solid and opaque 
body, surrounded with luminous clouds which float in 
the solar atmosphere, and that the dark nucleus of 
the spots is the opaque body of the sun appearing 



THE GREAT DAY OF JUDGMENT. 



271 



through occasional openings in this atmosphere." 
This view of the sun, by a celebrated astronomer, 
spoils all the fine-spun theory that his blazing con-^ 
tents are to be the great instrument in the earth's 
consummation. Another theory, which would seem 
amply sufficient for the Almighty's purpose in per- 
forming his will, according to the apostolic declara- 
tion, is, that a combination of electric and volcanic 
fire will effect all that is essential to the earth's con- 
flagration, so long described by patriarchs, prophets, 
apostles, poets, and divines. With these, without any 
miraculous process in the production of additional 
fire, it is thought that, at the destined moment, 
through Jehovah's bidding, the flames arising from 
this combination would burn down all the works of 
nature and art comprised in the great globe, that shall 
pass away under the fiery ordeal "like the baseless 
fabric of a vision." 

But notwithstanding all the learning and eloquence 
that expositors have lavished on this great subject, 
the Almighty may accomplish his purpose by the 
word of his power in the mere separation of two 
gases. Oxygen gas, that composes about one fifth of 
the atmosphere, being separated from nitrogen gas, 
would soon accomplish its share of the work, while 
the other, actively engaged in its sphere and degree, 
would soon demolish the whole material structure, 
that was once so beautifully glorious that " the morn- 
ing stars sang together, and all the sons of God 
shouted for joy" over its creation ; but now, despoiled 



272 



THE GREAT DAY OF JUDGMENT. 



by sin, and marked by Divine judgments, as it rolls 
on toward the great day. Dr. Dick, a celebrated 
.Christian philosopher, says : u Let the nitrogen of the 
atmosphere be completely separated from the oxygen, 
and let the oxygen exert its native energies without 
control wherever it extends, from what we know of 
its nature, we are warranted to conclude that/ in- 
stantly, a universal conflagration would commence, 
throughout not only wood, coals, sulphur, bitumen, 
and other combustible substances, but even the hard- 
est rocks and stones, and all the metals, fossils, and 
minerals — and water itself, which is a compound of 
two inflammable substances, would blaze with a 
rapidity which would carry destruction through the 
whole expanse of the terraqueous globe; and, at the 
same time, all the other laws of nature might still 
operate as they have hitherto done since the creation 
of the world." 

The certainty of this great event ought to induce 
us to seek an abiding inheritance. For, as we have 
no continuing city here, we should earnestly strive, 
through Divine grace, to obtain a house not made 
with hands, eternal in the heaven of heavens, where 
Jesus Christ is preparing a place for all his followers. 
What would we think of a man who would place his 
whole heart and affections on an edifice that he knew 
would soon be consumed with fire, and who, notwith- 
standing this, would heap all his treasure within it, 
and centre his greatest expectations in this short-lived 
possession? Would we not, with one voice, proclaim 



THE GREAT DAY OF JUDGMENT. 273 

the folly of such a man ? And far more foolish is 
he, who confines all his purposes and plans to this 
transitory state of human life, and views this world 
as his chief good, and lays up no treasure in heaven, 
to be enjoyed when all earthly honors, riches, and 
pleasures shall be terminated. The days are rolling 
rapidly on, when ensigns of royalty, thrones of state, 
temples of fame, halls of science, haunts of pleasure, 
and monuments of art, will all vanish away; for 
"the earth, and the works that are therein, shall be 
burned up." 

Fourthly. Amidst the splendor of this conflagra- 
tion, the dead shall be raised. St. John, in his vision 
on the isle of Patmos, "saw the dead, small and 
great; stand before God." Myriads, of every nation, 
kindred^ tongue, and people, shook off the slumber 
of ages, and crowded to the judgment seat, to give an 
account for the deeds done in the body. And what he 
saw in his inspired vision as actually present before 
him, shall surely be realized in futurity concerning 
the dead, and also those that shall be alive at Christ's 
coming. u Not man alone, the foe of God and man" 
must then appear and face the throne, and meet the 
Judge, so long provoked with deeds of darkness, black 
as hellish night. Ah, then,' Eternal Justice, fraught 
with unutterable wrath, will drag from his dark realm 
of deep damnation, the thunder-scathed monarch, in 
chains of everlasting adamant; and at the head of 
all his infernal hosts, he must hear his doom, and 
groan in speechless agonies of fell despair, and sink 
18 



274 THE GREAT DAY OF JUDGMENT. 

forever down, to howl in accents hideous as the 
storms that sweep across the gulf of everlasting woe, 
to yell with unabated hate and cruel rage with devils 
damned, who sinned against the God of life and love, 
whose boundless glories once beamed forth to make 
them happy in immortal union with himself and all 
the blest. Yes, the Day of Judgment, fraught with 
inexorable justice, and replete with the unchangeable 
destiny of fallen angels, will lead the Judge, forever 
just, to cast them off, beyond the bounds of happi- 
ness, where death eternal reigns, and mercy never 
comes. 

But some, ignorant of the Sacred Oracles, may per- 
haps deny that fallen angels will be brought to judg- 
ment, and suppose that there will be no necessity for 
such a process in their case, as they are not connected 
with each other by ties of consanguinity, nor bound by 
those national, civil, social, connubial, parental, and filial 
relations that involve us in obligations to each other, 
and the bearings and results of which cannot be fully 
understood, in relation to innocence and guilt, until 
the whole, circumstances of good and evil are brought 
to judgment; but as each infernal spirit is acting on 
his own individual abstraction, and not relatively 
responsible, so no tribunal need determine the fur- 
ther state of fallen angels, or bring them to an account 
in the Great Day of Judgment. 

Now, in answer to all this, we maintain that the 
juridical process, which requires their presence, as 
accountable agents, at the judgment seat, is fully ex- 



THE GREAT DAY OF JUDGMENT. 275 

pressed in the Bible. The apostle Peter declares that 
11 God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them 
down to hell ; and delivered them into chains of dark- 
ness, to be reserved unto judgment." And Jude say- 
eth : " The angels which kept not their first estate, but 
left their own habitation, he hath reserved in ever- 
lasting chains, under darkness, unto the judgment of 
the great day." Here, it is scripturally established, 
that the fallen angels must come to the judgment of 
the great day, and shall have to answer for their re- 
bellion against God, and the part that they and their 
infernal chief take in tempting human beings to com- 
mit sin and to relinquish their allegiance to the Al- 
mighty Sovereign, and to induce them to serve 
Beelzebub, the devil, and Satan, the fell destroyer of 
angelic and human happiness, whose doom will be 
eternally sealed by Jehovah on the Day of Judgment 
before all worlds. 

Fifthly. The books shall be opened, and the dead 
shall be judged out of those things written in the 
books, according to their works. The Bible, or book 
of Sacred Scripture, shall be opened, to judge Jews 
and Gentiles, who had access to this great standard 
of moral obligation and revealed righteousness. The 
law and the prophets were a lamp to the feet, and a 
light to the path of Jews until the coming of Messiah. 
The patriarchs, who had not the written Word, had 
communications of the Divine will by dreams, visions, 
and glorious manifestations of the presence of God, 
and the ministration of angels, bringing them in pos- 



276 THE GEEAT DA^T OF JUDGMENT. 



session of sufficient light and information to enable 
them, through the influence of the Holy Spirit and 
the exercise of their own agency, to act up to all the 
moral obligations devolving upon them ; and conse- 
quently, they must answer to the Judge of all the 
earth for how they conducted themselves in that early 
age of the world, prior to the Jewish and Christian 
dispensations. And the Old Testament Scriptures, 
which were a rule of moral action for the Jews before 
the gospel dispensation, shall, in union with the New 
Testament, be an infallible rule of truth and righteous- 
ness for all succeeding generations of Jews and Gen- 
tiles until the end of time. • The gospel dispensation, 
according to the counsel, wisdom, and benevolence of 
God, supersedes all other dispensations. And though 
it does not abrogate the moral law, as a standard of 
righteousness, and a heaven-revealed rule of procedure 
between man and man, it is nevertheless divinely an- 
nounced " that by the deeds of the law no flesh shall 
be justified" and saved; for the great scheme of gos- 
pel salvation is by grace, through faith in Jesus 
Christ, for both Jews and Gentiles ; and while faith in 
the Son of God brings salvation to the soul, the law 
is a great rule of moral action, as proven by Paul, 
where he asks the question, " Do we then make void 
the law through faith ? God forbid : yea, we establish 
the law." On this true ground of law and gospel we 
must stand before God in judgment. Oh, what a 
great honor and privilege, to be judged on the prin- 
ciple of eternal fairness, from the book of the un- 



THE GEE AT DAY OF JUDGMENT. 277 

searchable God and the glorious gospel of Christ ! It 
must now be incontrovertible acknowledged, by all 
who have the capacity of judging, that the Bible is 
the most sublime and wonderful of all books. The 
inspired penmen soared to the perfections of God, and 
unfolded his ways and works of creation, 'redemption, 
and salvation, and poured a tide of splendor on the 
accumulating triumphs of the Church, that shall rise 
• above the ravages of time, and the conflagration of 
the world ; and when the true votaries of the Bible 
shall stand before the great white throne, to be judged 
by him that sitteth thereon, a glow of transcendent 
splendor shall shine from its glorious truths around 
the whole " sacramental host of God's elect," that were 
chosen through sanctification of the Spirit and belief 
of the truth ; while the ungodly, who reviled its great 
Author, and would not obey its mandates, nor receive 
its offered salvation, shall stand speechlessly alive to 
the horror of their situation, and as condemned crim- 
inals must be eternally associated with the devil and 
his angels. 

The Book of Conscience will be opened. Though 
conscience, as a book, may be figuratively understood, 
it is, nevertheless, a positive reality, and has the 
power of approving and condemning human actions, 
according to the standard or rule of duty by which it 
proceeds. In another part of this Sermon we pre- 
sented conscience as a witness in favor of the Day of 
J udgment, when enlightened by the Holy Spirit and 
guided by the Bible ; but now we exhibit it as a 



278 THE GREAT DAY OF JUDGMENT. 



monitor, rule, or law, by which millions will be 
judged, and by which they will stand approved or 
condemned for their past proceedings. " Conscience," 
says Thomas Taylor, "is the testimony and secret 
judgment of the soul, which gives its approbation to 
actions that it thinks good, or reproaches itself with 
those which it believes to be evil/' This definition, 
though excellent, may be carried still further; for 
conscience not only approves good actions, and con- 
demns bad ones, according to its moral sense of right 
and wrong, but premonishes of evil, and excites to 
good. And though it may be wrongly biased by a 
false education, and be often led astray by super- 
stition, yet, when permitted to act independently, it 
generally breaks through all its shackles and decides 
according to truth. Therefore, Paul saith: "For 
when the Grentiles, which have not the law, do by 
nature the things contained in the law, these, having 
not the law, are a law unto themselves : which show 
the work of the law written in their hearts, their con- 
science also bearing witness, and their thoughts the 
meanwhile accusing or else excusing one another, in 
the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by 
Jesus Christ." 

Conscience is a law or rule of moral action, to 
which, if a man faithfully attend, and by which, if he 
constantly walk as a heathen, in the light of the Great 
Spirit, that is given to every man, he will be led 
through the mazes of life to everlasting day. And 
standing by this rule, as the best he had in time, he 



THE GREAT DAY OF JUDGMENT. 



279 



will be openly acknowledged and acquitted in judg- 
ment ; and through the merits of Christ, which are 
available in the salvation of pious heathens, shall 
have a blood-bought title to the tree of life, and enter 
through the gates into the city. 

The Book of Nature will be opened, and by its con- 
tents, in union with conscience, multitudes will be 
judged. In this Book, "we all, with open face 
beholding, as in a glass, the glory of the Lord, are 
changed into the same image from glory to glory, 
even as by the Spirit of the Lord." Now these words, 
that so gloriously apply to believers in beholding the 
glory of God. in the gospel scheme of salvation, in 
contrast with Judaism, may be applied to heathens, in 
exploring the works of creation, and in looking up 
through nature's works to nature's God ; and in one 
universal language, may read in legible characters 
many of the doings of the great Architect of Nature. 
Paul saith : " For the invisible things of him from the 
creation of the world are clearly seen, being under- 
stood by the things that are made, even his eternal 
power and Godhead ; so that they are without excuse," 
who will not read, and be profited by this great book, 
which, through the light of the Holy Spirit, leads even 
savages to worship a presiding intelligence. They see 
a Divinity in the murmuring rill that meanders 
through the meadow, in the rushing torrent that roars 
along the mountain, and on the whirlwind's wing that 
sweeps the mighty ocean. 

The royal Psalmist, rising on contemplation's 



280 THE GKEAT DAY OF JUDGMENT. 

pinions above the diversified beauties of this lower 
world, " to gaze awhile the ample azure sky," saw 
the moon walking in brightness, and the stars shining 
in their twinkling glories, and then exultingly ex- 
claimed : " The heavens declare the glory of God ; and 
the firmament sheweth his handiwork. Day unto 
day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth 
knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where 
their voice is not heard. Their line is gone out 
through all the earth, and their words to the end of 
the world." The glory of God, as here expressed, 
shining on every page of the Book of Nature, will be 
positive proof in the clay of, final retribution, that all 
were favored with outbeamings of the Divine perfec- 
tions in his works of creation, if they were not all 
blessed with the volume of Inspiration. And as 
infinite justice always proportions its requirements 
according to the ability to perform moral obligations, 
so, heathens shall appear at the judgment seat to ren- 
der an account to him who will judge them by rules 
of righteousness to which they were accountable, and 
shall acquit or condemn them by the principles of un- 
changeable fairness. We are all hastening to the 
judgment bar of the great God, to have our everlast- 
ing destinies decided ; and we ought to consider it a 
matter of vast importance to be openly approved and 
rewarded on that grand occasion, before all the 
angelic spectators that shall accompany the Judge, 
and surround his throne, until in transports of joy 
they will escort the righteous to the realm of endless 



THE GrEEAT DAY OF JUDGMENT. 281 



blessedness. And, notwithstanding the happiness of 
religion here, and the crowns and thrones of glory 
hereafter, many wreck their eternal interests for the 
transitory things of time, instead of laying up treasure 
for eternity. Inspiration has distinctly marked, in the 
Sacred Oracles, the vast difference between those who 
make this world their all, and those who are wisely 
preparing to meet God in judgment. On the one hand, 
they are denominated fools, and on the other, wise. 
It is therefore said : " The wise shall inherit glory ; 
but shame shall be the promotion of fools." 

Solomon portrays some of the fools of his time in 
glaring colors ; and the lapse of ages and the light of 
the gospel, have not rendered his descriptions inappli- 
cable to many at the present day. But passing over 
all others to whom the appellation of foolishness 
would apply for neglecting the great salvation, we 
shall come at once to the fool specified in the Gospel 
of Luke, who thought within himself, saying, " What 
shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow 
my fruits? and he said, This will I do: I will pull 
down my barns and build greater ; and there will I 
bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say 
to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for 
many years ; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. 
But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy 
soul shall be required of thee : then whose shall those 
things be, which thou hast provided." 

This worldly-minded man seems to have been a 
wealthy farmer, for Christ said : " The ground of a 



282 



THE GREAT DAY OF JUDGMENT. 



certain rich man brought forth plentifully," and he 
had not sufficient barn room, to contain his abundance. 
Farmers are generally a very respectable and peace- 
able set of men, and stand greatly connected with the 
temporal prosperity of any country where they dwell. 
The one, here specified, had grown up to affluence, 
and his past farming arrangements did not afford 
accommodation for the accumulated increase of his 
goods ; and it was, therefore, no harm to honestly 
provide larger barns to store provisions for himself 
friends, and purchasers, as the case might be, or as 
circumstances would authorize. And as no dis- 
honesty was charged, or even hinted against him, we 
shall hinge no criminality on his barn-building enlarge- 
ments ; and will not call him a fool for that part of 
his proceedings, amidst the great plenty with which 
he was favored for present and future usefulness in 
temporal matters. Having contemplated the erection 
of his buildings, and the storing of his goods, he 
intended saying to his soul, "Soul, thou hast much 
goods laid up for many years." 

'Now, apart from all other considerations, the 
amount of goods laid up could be no more criminal in 
itself, than for a rich man at this time to estimate the 
value of his property, and to rejoice in his accumu- 
lated treasure acquired on honest principles. "What, 
then, was the extent of his foolishness, that led 
Jehovah to such a special condemnation of his course 
as the sacred history contains ? A faithful answer to 
this important question, can be easily given from the 



THE GREAT DAY OF JUDGMENT. 283 



record of his proceedings, where he substituted the 
things of this life for that which is to come. There- 
fore, when he said to his soul, " Soul, thou hast much 
goods laid up for many years ; take thine ease, eat, 
drink, and be merry," his folly became awfully foolish, 
and amidst all his earth-born enjoyments, u Grod said 
unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be 
required of thee : then whose shall those things be, 
which thou hast provided ? So is he that layeth up 
treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God." 
Here is the mournful cause of his overthrow here, 
and will be the cause of his damnation in the Day of 
Judgment, when his foolishness shall be glaringly con- 
spicuous in ruining his soul on earth, for what he 
could not take to hell, to alleviate his misery, as a 
damned spirit, that was capable of obtaining a quali- 
fication for endless glory, which he absolutely neg- 
lected for worldly emoluments, earthly pleasure, and 
wilfully neglecting his soul's salvation. Oh, what a 
solemn thought, for the black drapery of death to be 
drawn around him, amidst all his present pursuits and 
future prospects of ease, wealth, and merriment, with- 
out one religious ray of hope to cheer his last 
moments, or to gild the dark valley through which he 
had to pass, as a lone wanderer to an undone eternity ! 
He trusted to uncertain riches, and had to leave them 
all to others. His body alone was claimed by the 
king of terrors, and his deathless soul was launched 
beyond the grave, to be a companion for devils. 
Lamentation, mourning, and great woe, are written in 



284: 



THE GKEAT DAY OF JUDGMENT. 



staring capitals on the scroll of his eternal destiny ; 
and we will therefore leave him till the Day of Judg- 
ment, when, with millions of others, he will sink to 
the Grod-forsaken realm, where hope flies as an 
eternal fugitive, and black despair with raven wings 
covers all. Having specified different .books by which 
Patriarchs, Jews, Heathens, and Christians shall be 
judged, and also elaborated the principles by which 
all shall stand approved or condemned in the great 
day, we have only to introduce another book into the 
juridicial proceedings, which is, 

The "Book of Life." In this shall be recorded the 
names of all the righteous, of every nation, kindred, 
tongue, and people, high and low, rich and poor, 
colored and white, bond and free ; all saved by grace, 
and heirs of the eternal kingdom, shall stand spotlessly 
pure before the throne, and ranged in glorious contrast 
on the right hand of the Judge, with all the wicked 
and ungodly on the left, standing in horrid array with 
the devil and his angels to await their sentence. 
Then it shall be plainly seen that we are not damned 
or saved by Sovereign partiality, or a principle of 
eternal favoritism, but by the unchangeable principles 
of everlasting rectitude, rendering to all a just award 
"for the deeds done in the body," whether they were 
good or evil. But some have supposed that Jehovah 
will not bring into judgment the sinful actions of those 
who afterward became righteous, and continued faith- 
ful to death ; for as their sins were all forgiven at the 
time of their conversion, it has been thought that they 



THE GREAT DAY OF JUDGMENT. 285 



need not therefore be brought to light, as their ex- 
hibition before an assembled universe would only fill 
the righteous with confusion, and would not comport 
with infinite benevolence to expose his people before 
all worlds for their past sins. But the fallacy of this 
argument will easily appear, when we reflect that 
many past transgressions of the godly, committed 
before they found the favor of God, stood in such con- 
nection with the rights of others that were injured by 
such ungodly deeds, that there could not be a faithful 
exhibition of facts, nor an impartial process of judg- 
ment, if those deeds of darkness were not brought to 
light, so as to make every man's character appear in 
its own proper colors. This process will not only 
comport with the strictness of eternal justice, but also, 
with a full vindication of the rights of the innocent, 
who often, in this world, stood charged with the crimes 
of others; and some have been hung on a gallows, 
and endured that shameful death, when they were 
entirely innocent of the crimes for which they were 
condemned to death, while the perpetrators of wicked- 
ness went free among their fellows. But all our 
arguments are superseded by the words of the text, 
which assure us, that "Grod will bring every work 
into judgment; with every secret thing, whether it be 
good or whether it be evil;" and without which 
arrangement there could not be a fair development 
of human affairs. According to this procedure, 
impenitent sinners will plainly see, that the same kind 
of sins for which they shall be sent to everlasting 



286 



THE GEEAT DAY OF JUDGMENT. 



punishment, were pardoned in others, through faith 
in the sacrifice of Calvary, by the great Judge him- 
self; and therefore, the atonement shall be gloriously 
magnified in the salvation of all the righteous ; and 
the immutable justice of the great Lawgiver will be 
openly conspicuous in the condemnation of all who 
rejected that atonement, through which they might 
have escaped " eternal damnation," and obtained end- 
less salvation. "We now conclude our explanation of 
all the central and surrounding circumstances essential 
to a proper understanding of the certainty, nature, and 
actual proceedings of the Great Day of Judgment ; and 
as our arrangement implied no description of the 
punishment of the damned in hell after the judgment, 
nor of the glory of the righteous in heaven, we shall 
sum up the immediate and ultimate consequences of 
the juridical procedure, in the heaven-illuminated 
language of the great Master of all, where he says : 
"And these shall go away into everlasting punish- 
ment ; but the righteous into life eternal." These 
words, that are so transcendently glorious on the one 
hand, and tremendously awful on the other, lead us to 
both sides of the great gulf, where the separation will 
be eternally conspicuous, in relation to the existence 
-and punishment of hell, and in the indescribable 
glories of heaven. In view, therefore, of the incontesta- 
ble arguments adduced in favor of a Day of General 
Judgment, we can triumphantly conclude in the 
heaven-inspired language of the text : " For God shall 
bring every work Into judgment, with every secret 
thing, whether it be got)d or whether it be evil." 



SERMON X. 



ON THE EXISTENCE, PUNISHMENT, 

AND 

DURATION OF HELL. 



" The wicked shall Ibe turned into hell." — Psalm ix. 17. 

The Bible in various places establishes the damna- 
tion of impenitent sinners. For, as subjects of Satan's 
dark and damning administration, they cannot be 
admitted into heaven, except their moral nature is 
changed by the power of the Holy Ghost, through 
faith in Jesus of Nazareth. The transgression of our 
first parents placed obstacles in the way of salvation, 
that required the atonement of Christ to remove ; and 
therefore God, in boundless goodness, "so loved the 
world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoso- 
ever believeth in him should not perish, but have 
everlasting life." "With this message of gospel grace 
sounding in the ears of a sinner, if he will not turn to 
God, and accept mercy in the pardon of his sins, he 
must be banished from the presence of the Lord and 
the glory of his power into the regions of everlasting 

(287) 



288 ON THE EXISTENCE, PUNISHMENT, AND 

woe ; for,, the text declares : " The wicked shall be 
turned into hell." And in discoursing on which, I 
shall, in the First place, obviate some false opinions 
concerning hell, and establish its real existence. 
Secondly, its eternal duration. And Thirdly, in what 
its punishment consists. 

I. Obviate some false opinions concerning- 

HELL, AND ESTABLISH ITS REAL EXISTENCE. 

There has been a great amount of ignorance and 
wickedness manifested by many in denying the Scrip- 
ture doctrine of damnation. And some have striven 
to silence their well-grounded fears of everlasting 
2*)unishment, by various theories, and baseless specula- 
tions. But Solomon sayeth : " There are many 
devices in a man's heart ; nevertheless the counsel of 
the Lord, that shall stand." The Bible and sound 
reason will remain the same on the doctrine of hell, as 
if it had no opponents ; and all the efforts of infidels 
to disprove its existence will return with a confound- 
ing influence on their own heads, while they are post- 
ing their onward way to the very place that they 
declare has no existence. And though the word hell 
in the Bible is sometimes figuratively used, yet as all 
true figures have reality for their foundation, or they 
would be baseless ; so hell, in several places in sacred 
Scripture, is an awful reality, that no sophistical 
arguments can ever undermine, or infidel statements 
annihilate. In the unflinching exercise of this faith, 



DURATION OF HELL. 



289 



I shall now proceed in relation to some true and false 
views of hell, as our first general proposition implies. 

1. The ancient belief of hell by sacred and profane 
vjriters. In this place, a few quotations may suffice, 
which the reader can understand in their figurative or 
real import, as his judgment may decide, in their 
proper application to the circumstances under which 
they were spoken, and the nature of the subjects to 
which they referred ; always remembering that figura- 
tive language in one place, has positive fact for its 
substratum in another. A vigorous exercise of our 
intellects will lead us to discriminate between the two 
cases, if we are willing to know the truth ; and such 
sincere discrimination will be of great service to us 
throughout the whole course of this Sermon. Moses 
sayeth in the language of Jehovah : " Eor a fire is 
kindled in mine anger, and shall burn unto the lowest 
hell." Homer, who lived only a few hundred years 
after Moses, mentions hell in various places in the 
Iliad. And when Simosios fell on the field of battle, 
Homer declared that he was sent by great Ajax to 
the shades of hell. And though in that place he 
seemed to mean the grave, yet in another place, when 
Hector and Ajax fought as mighty champions in the 
Trojan and Grecian contest, Hector was struck with 
the fragment of a rock by Ajax, and thundered so near 
the gates of hell, that when he was recovering from 
the shock, he fancied he still saw the ghosts of dam- 
nation flitting before his vision, and exclaimed : 
19 



290 ON THE EXISTENCE, PUNISHMENT, AND 



" The mighty Ajax, with a deadly blow, 
Had almost sunk me to the shades below ; 
Ev'n yet, methinks. the gliding ghosts I spy, 
And hell's black horrors swim before my eye." 

Now these words prove that Homer believed in a hell 
of damnation, or he could not have consistently put 
them in the mouth of Hector, the great Trojan Prince ; 
and it is therefore plainly shown that the doctrine 
of hell was believed at the time that Homer wrote. 
And when great Jupiter commanded all the immortal 
gods to refrain from helping either Greece or Troy 
in their battles, he threatened them, if disobeying his 
mandate, * 

<£ With burning chains fixed to the brazen floors, 
And lock'd by hell's inexorable doors ; 
As deep beneath th' infernal centre hurl'd 
As from that centre to th' etherial world." 

Samuel, who lived three hundred years after Moses, 
said : " When the waves of death compassed me, the 
floods of ungodly men made me afraid ; the sorrows 
of hell compassed me about ; the snares of death pre- 
vented me." Job, in speaking of the unsearchable 
wisdom of God, says : " It is as high as heaven ; what 
canst thou do ? deeper than hell ; what canst thou 
know? Hell is naked before him, and destruction 
hath no covering." The royal Psalmist, in different 
places, refers to hell. In speaking of the goodness of 
God he sayeth : " For great is thy mercy toward me : 
and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell." 



. DURATION OF HELL. 



291 



And in prophesying the downfall of the ungodly, he 
says : " Let death seize upon them, and let them go 
down quick into hell ; for wickedness is in their 
dwellings, and among them." And as specified in 
the text: "The wicked shall be turned into hell, 
and all the nations that forget God." This seems a 
very strong passage in proof of a hell of future punish- 
ment ; for as it respects the grave, all are to be turned 
into that, whether they be good or bad. Isaiah, in 
speaking of the wickedness of Nebuchadnezzar, king 
of Babylon, says : " Hell from beneath is moved for 
thee, to meet thee at thy coming : it stirreth up the 
dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth ; it 
hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the 
nations. All they shall speak and say unto thee, Art 
thou also become weak as we ? are thou become like 
unto us ?" Doctor Clarke, in commenting on these 
words, says : " What a most terrible idea is here ! 
Tyrannical kings, who have oppressed and spoiled 
mankind, are here represented as enthroned in hell, 
and as taking a Satanic pleasure in seeing others of 
the same description enter those abodes of misery!" 
We might, if necessary, go on to quote from prophets, 
apostles, Jews, and heathens, and from Christ himself, 
who has exhibited hell in the New Testament in aw- 
ful reality ; for all religions — Jewish, Pagan, and Chris- 
tian — have had their established views and doctrines 
of hell, as a place of punishment after death for the 
wicked. The heathens had their tartar a, and the Ma- 
hometans their rewards and punishments. The doctrine 



292 ON THE EXISTENCE, PUNISHMENT, AND 

of the existence of hell is not, therefore, peculiar to 
Christianity. Its denial is comparatively a new 
theory, and not justified by ancient ages. 

2. The Place of Hell. There have been many curi- 
ous, useless, and foolish notions respecting the place 
of the damned, which it would be unfair to charge 
upon the scheme of true Christianity, that ought 
always to be viewed as standing on its own founda- 
tion, and as being perpetuated by its own heaven- 
inspired truths, without being accountable for the 
errors of its superficial votaries. " The ancients 
generally supposed it was a region of fire near the 
centre of the earth. Mr. Swinden endeavored to 
prove that it is seated in the sun. Mr. "Whiston 
advanced a new and strange hypothesis ; according to 
him, the comets are so many hells, appointed in their 
orbits alternately to carry the damned to the confines 
of the sun, there to be scorched by its violent heat ; 
and then to return with them beyond the orb of Sa- 
turn, there to starve them in those cold and dismal 
regions." But as Dr. Doddridge observes) " we must 
here confess our ignorance ; and shall be much better 
employed in studying how we may avoid this place of 
horror, than in laboring to discover where it is." Hell 
is diametrically opposite to heaven in nature and 
existence. It may be viewed as some far off world, 
where infinite wisdom, power, and goodness, place 
those, that, on principles of good government, cannot 
be admitted into heaven ; and that have no qualifica- 
tion or capacity for heavenly enjoyments. And we 



DURATION OF HELL. 



293 



must leave the further knowledge of the place of hell, 
until eternity shall shed its unclouded splendor on 
that deplorable realm ; and now turn our attention to 
its real existence ; and of which reason and revelation 
furnish ample proof. 

3. Some deny the existence of any hell beyond the 
bounds of time, and assert that all mankind shall be 
saved in heaven through God's boundless love. But, in 
answer to this view, we maintain that it is not by 
boundless goodness in the abstract that we are saved, 
but through the application of the merits of QJirist, 
and the power of the Holy Ghost in the change of our 
hearts, and sanctification of our souls ; and any other 
way of salvation would be opposed to the whole scope 
of the Bible ; and to affirm that all mankind shall be 
saved, is in direct contravention of God's own un- 
changeable statements. It would, also, break down the 
wall of distinction between vice and virtue, righteous- 
ness and unrighteousness, rewards and punishments. 
And if all are saved because "God is love," that 
would make heaven an eternal reward for wickedness. 
For surely none can consistently deny that many die 
in their sins, without giving the least evidence that 
they are prepared to enter into such a holy place as 
heaven is described to be in the sacred oracles. Jesus 
Christ is very explicit on this subject, for he saith : 
"Except a man be born again, he cannot see the 
kingdom of God." And in his commission to the 
apostles, " he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, 
and preach the gospel to every creature. He that 



294 ON THE EXISTENCE, PUNISHMENT, AND 

believeth, and is baptized, shall be saved ; but he that 
believeth not, shall be damned." These passages, in 
conjunction with our text, plainly prove, that all will 
not be saved with the power of an endless life, but 
must be eternally excluded from the society of the 
blest in heaven. 

4. Some contend that the sufferings of this life are the 
only hell we shall ever have to endure; and that all man- 
hind beyond the grave will be eternally glorified. Now, 
in answer to this erroneous theory, we assert, that it 
makos void all the threatenings and penalties annexed 
to Jehovah's law, except what are merely connected 
with the calamities and sufferings of this present 
life ; and of which, as in the case of Job and others, 
the righteous have often the largest share ; and, there- 
fore, an earthly hell of suffering would be worse in 
their case, than in that of many of the most egre- 
giously wicked. But the fallacy of this will appear 
when we reflect, that when a man is saved from his 
sins, and thereby made righteous by Divine grace, in 
accordance with his free agency, then, the penalty of 
violated law can have no application to him, but must 
rest in condemnation on the inpenitent sinner here, 
until he is eternally damned hereafter. So, while the 
theory of universal salvation makes it, in many 
instances, better for the sinner in time than for the 
righteous, there will, nevertheless, be a marked dif- 
ference between their salvation and damnation in 
eternity. And though all the sufferings of this life are 
the consequences of sin, they cannot, in accordance 



DURATION OF HELL. 



295 



with the truths of the Bible, be considered as the 
whole penalty of transgression. This spurious theory, 
would not only obviate the penalty of the Divine law, 
but destroy the scriptural doctrine of the pardon of 
sin. For if we suffer the amount that the penalty of 
the violated law requires, while in this present life, 
and there is no hell in eternity, it is obvious, that we 
would need no pardon, when the whole penalty is 
endured. But if, on the other hand we do not suffer 
the whole penalty of sin here, then it logically follows, 
that we must suffer hereafter what justice requires, 
if we are not pardoned and saved on earth as a quali- 
fication for heaven according to the Bible, which 
assures us that "God pardoneth iniquity, transgres- 
sion, and sin," and, therefore, the theory of universal 
salvation by present sufferings, in obviation of a hell 
of damnation beyond the bounds of time, is "base- 
less as the fabric of a vision," and diametrically 
contrary to the Scripture doctrine of pardon and purifi- 
cation ; for no sufferings whatever can destroy sin, or 
purify the soul from moral contamination. This false 
theory would destroy the necessity of the atonement of 
Christ ; for if we suffer for our own sins, then why was 
it essential that Christ should suffer to open up a new 
and living way to the holiest of all ? and if we were 
to enter heaven by our own sufferings, that would, 
on that principle, satisfy justice for the transgression 
of moral law. But another absurdity arising, from 
the premises is, that the effects of sin would become 
the saviour of sinners, which would be unphilosophic 



296 ON THE EXISTENCE, PUNISHMENT, AND 

in the nature of cause and effect, as well as unscrip- 
tural. For as all sufferings have arisen from sin as 
the cause, they never could react and destroy sin as an 
effect. And if suffering could not destroy sin, it 
necessarily follows, that if a sinner dies in sin, and all 
are saved, then, he enters heaven with all his sins 
upon him ; while Jehovah assures us, that nothing 
unholy shall enter that bright and blest abode ; and 
therefore, there must be a hell in eternity for those 
who die in their sins. 

5. Some assert that all the hell they have to suffer is 
their own Conscience condemning them for what is wrong. 
Now, in answer to this unwarrantable theory, we assert 
that conscience is not designed by the great Author 
of our being, as an absolute penal punishment for 
vice, nor as a full reward for virtue, but as a faithful 
umpire, testifying its approbation or disapprobation 
of the goodness or badness of our proceedings, bring- 
ing pleasure and pain, as we act rightly and wrongly 
here, without substituting them for the happiness and 
misery of an eternal hereafter. We cannot, then, logi- 
cally and scripturally make the present approbation 
of a good conscience, arising from a consciousness 
of righteousness, supersede heavenly 'blessedness, nor 
the condemnation consequent on our wilful sins 
obviate the penal punishment of hell. It is positively 
silly for any intelligent men to fly to this refuge to 
counteract the scriptural account of future damnation. 
A man might as reasonably call a good conscience 
heaven, as to call an evil conscience hell. Con- 



DURATION" OF HELL. 



297 



science is defined by some to be "That judgment 
which the rational soul passes on all her actions ; and 
is said to be a faculty of the soul itself, and conse- 
quently natural to it." Others state that it is a "ray 
of Divine light." Milton calls it " God's umpire 
and Dr. Young calls it a "god in man." Dr. Clarke 
says : " To me, it seems to be no other than a faculty 
capable of receiving light and conviction from the 
Spirit of God ; and answers the end, in spiritual mat-' 
ters to the soul, that the eye does to the body in the 
process' of vision." Chrysostom says: "ISTo man can 
flee from the judgment of his own conscience, which 
cannot be shunned. It cannot be corrupted ; it can- 
not be terrified ; it cannot be flattered or bribed ; nor 
can its testimony be obscured by any lapse of time." 
Cicero, in his oration for Milo, describes the power of 
conscience in a few words, by saying — " Great is the 
power of conscience in both cases ; they fear nothing 
who know they have committed no evil. On the'con- 
trary, they who have sinned, live in continual dread 
of punishment." And Shakspeare says, on this same 
principle that Cicero advocated, "That conscience 
makes cowards of us all" — implying, obviously, a 
conscience guilty of bad actions, and afraid to face 
the consequences. And this, doubtless, makes many 
bad men flee for safety from the clamors of conscience 
to a system of falsehood, which cannot obviate future 
punishment, but would only increase it by a perse- 
verance in wickedness. South observes : " It is a 
double, or joint knowledge, namely — one of a Divine 



298 ON THE EXISTENCE, PUNISHMENT, AND 

law or rule, and the otber of a man's own action. It 
may be defined to be the judgment which a man 
passes on the morality of his actions, as to their 
purity or turpitude — or the secret testimony of the 
soul, whereby it approves things that are good, and 
condemns those that are evil." We will now crown 
these important testimonies hy the opinion of the 
learned and pious John "Wesley. He says : u Con- 
science is a tribunal in the breast of men, to accuse 
sinners, and excuse them that do well. It is that fac- 
ulty whereby we are at once conscious of our own 
thoughts, words, and actions, and of their merit or 
demerit, of their being good or bad, and, conse- 
quently, deserving either praise or censure. And 
some pleasure generally attends the former sentence ; 
some uneasiness the latter; but this varies exceed- 
ingly, according to education, and a thousand other 
circumstances. To take a more distinct view of con- 
science, it appears to have a threefold office — first, it 
is a witness, testifying what we have done, in thought, 
or word, or action ; secondly, it is a judge, passing 
sentence on what we have done, that it is good or 
evil; and thirdly, it, in some sort, executes the sen- 
tence, by occasioning a degree of complacency in him 
that does well, and a degree of uneasiness in him that 
does evil." Now, in all the light that these great men 
shed on conscience, which acts only in its own place, 
we see nothing to disprove the doctrine of eternal 
damnation, any more than that of eternal salvation ; 
and it is either ignorantly or wickedly unfair in seep- 



DURATION" OF HELL. 



299 



tics to strive for the overthrow of future punishment, 
by any thing found in conscience, fairly explained, 
according to reason and Scripture. 

6. Refute the theory that the grave is the only hell 
specified in the Bible, and that there is no future punish- 
ment. Having fairly argued our way through several 
false theories, concerning the damnation, of hell, and 
the universal salvation of all mankind, we shall now 
make a vigorous attack on the theory that hell, in 
the Sacred Oracles, always means the grave ; and 
shall hold up this part of the doctrine of Universalists 
to the chastisement of sound theology, and leave an 
intelligent public to judge between the doctrines of 
the Bible and the assertions of infidels, latitudinarians, 
and mongrel professors of gospel Christianity. We 
here freely admit that sheol, or hell, in the Old Testa- 
ment, in some places means the grave, and in that 
respect can be properly applied ; but in other cases it 
seems quite otherwise, and can be properly explained 
in reference to a hell of damnation beyond the grave. 
Having openly admitted this, we nevertheless assert 
that we know but one place in the New Testament 
where the Greek word hades can be consistently trans- 
lated grave, and that is in 1 Corinthians xv. 55. 
And even there, as in Acts ii. 27, 31, it might criti- 
cally and properly mean the separate place of de- 
parted spirits — and this brings objectors into very 
narrow limits. For when Christ declared that Caper- 
naum should "be brought down to hell," he rather 
seemed to mean a state of desolation, than the grave, 



300 ON THE EXISTENCE, PUNISHMENT, AND 

or the torments of damnation ; and therefore this pas- 
sage need not be viewed as absolutely contradicting 
our statement concerning hades, or hell, in other 
parts of the New Testament. And though I here 
allow that the Greek word for hell has bean applied 
to the grave, and to a state of desolation, figuratively 
used, and may be often found in Greek and Eoman 
writings in that application, as well as to future pun- 
ishment, I shall, nevertheless, maintain that it would 
be a perversion of Sacred Scripture, and an outrage 
on Jehovah's administration, to contend that hell no- 
where in the Bible refers to a state of misery beyond 
the grave, and that the vilest of the vile, dying in 
their sins, will be exalted to heaven— as would be the 
case if universal salvation is true, according to the 
theology of Universalists. 

If, then, we deny a hell of future punishment be- 
cause hades may be translated grave, on the same 
principle we can deny the existence of the human 
soul, or immaterial spirit, because the Greek word, 
which is rendered life by the translators, is also trans- 
lated soul by them, as may be seen by the Greek ver- 
sion of Matthew's and Mark's Gospels when compared 
with the English translation. And thus, cavillers 
might declare that they had no souls, and that they 
were only an organization of materiality possessed of 
animal life. But it would be unfortunate for all such, 
that hell, in the New Testament, is also translated 
from Geenan, which the translators never rendered 
grave ; and in Matthew v. 22, Geenan ton puros can 



DURATION OF HELL. 301 



never be properly applied to the - grave. The grave 
nowhere in the Greek Testament means a hell of 
fire, as we find in this passage, or as a place of tor- 
ture ; but of silence, inaction, and death. And here, 
no sophistry, or figurative language, in allusion to the 
ancient Gehenna, or valley of the son of Hinnom, 
recorded in the Old Testament, will answer the pur- 
pose of objectors, for there the worm died, and the fire 
was quenched ; but in the damnation of hell stated 
by Christ, the worm of the damned "dieth not, and 
the fire is not quenched." This statement of the Son 
of God fairly wrenches from infidels and clerical 
sophists those bewildering arguments concerning Ge- 
henna that has been so often made a pretext for the 
denial of a hell of punishment beyond the grave, and 
for proselyting those not sufficiently skilled in the 
intricacies of controversial theology. 

Doctor Adam Clarke, in commenting on Isaiah 
lxvi. 24, says : " Thes-e words of the prophet are 
applied by our blessed Saviour, Mark ix. 44, to 
express the everlasting punishment of the wicked in 
Gehenna, or in hell. Gehenna, or the valley of Hin- 
nom, was very near to Jerusalem, to the southeast : 
it was the place where the idolatrous Jews celebrated 
that horrible rite of making their children pass through 
the fire, that is, of burning them in sacrifice to Moloch. 
To put a stop to this abominable practice, Josiah de- 
filed, or desecrated the place, by filling it with human 
bones, 2 Kings, xxiii. 10, 14; and probably it was 
the custom afterward, to throw out the carcasses of 



302 ON THE EXISTENCE, PUNISHMENT, AND 

animals there, when it also became the common bury- 
ing-place for the poorer people of Jerusalem. Our 
Saviour expressed the state of the blessed by sensible 
images ; such as paradise, Abraham's bosom, or, 
which is the same thing, a place to recline next to 
Abraham at table in the kingdom of heaven. In 
like manner, he expressed the place of torment under 
the image of Gehenna; and the punishment of the 
wicked by the worm which there preyed on the car- 
casses, and the fire that consumed the wretched 
victims. Marking, however, in the strongest manner, 
the difference between Gehenna and the invisible 
place of torment ; namely, that in the former, the suf- 
fering is transient : — the worm itself, which preys 
upon the body, dies ; and the fire which totally con- 
sumes it, is soon extinguished : — whereas, in the 
figurative Gehenna, the instruments of punishment 
shall be everlasting, ^and the suffering without end ; 
"for there the worm dieth not, and the fire is not 
quenched." Here the doctor gives a fair explanation 
of the ancient Gehenna, and of its application by 
Christ to the eternal damnation of the wicked in 
Geenan ton puros, or a hell of fire, representing their 
awful punishment, as published in the New Testa- 
ment. 

In the Gospel of Luke, xvi. 22, 23, it is declared 
that the rich man " died, and was buried ; and in hell 
he lifted up his eyes, being in torments." "We now 
solemnly ask, before a heart-searching God, did our Sa- ' 
viour mean the grave in this place ? Surely nothing 



DUE ATI ON" OF' HELL. 



303 



but a perverted theology, or the father of lies, could lead 
any sensible man to say that he did. Is the grave a 
place of vision, of misery ? No. There the prisoners 
are at rest, and the servant is free from his master. 
Could the dead body suffer in the grave, and exclaim, 
" I am tormented in this flame ?" Or could the soul, 
the immaterial spirit, be entombed in monumental 
marble, or in a prison-house of clay? Reason and 
revelation answer no; and heaven, earth, and hell 
might answer no, to the confusion of all who deny a 
place of punishment after death. St. James sayeth, 
"the body without the spirit is dead," and Christ 
declared, that "the rich man also died, and was 
buried ;" so we contend that his soul was fled from 
his body or he could not have been dead, and while 
both were separate, the soul only could suffer ; and 
was, therefore, actually tormented in a place different 
from the grave of his body ; and which, according to 
our Lord's account, was a hell of torments, that no 
grave for a dead body could ever imply. This argu- 
ment on natural and philosophical principles will 
stand against all objections to our doctrine of hell, 
" like a rock, that breaks the rushing flood," and that 
scatters the floating bubbles into mist and air, or 
engulfs them in the rolling stream from whence they 
arose. 

But the last refuge to which sophists resort, in 
explanation of this passage is, that the whole account 
of Dives and Lazarus is a mere parable. If, then, it 
is only a parable, and there is no punishment after 



304* ON THE EXISTENCE, PUNISHMENT, AND 

death, to which it referred, then Christ must be 
charged with folly for originating an alarming account 
that had reference to nothing ; and even with falsehood, 
for representing a man in torments, when there were 
no torments endured by him, as would have been the 
case if the grave had been his only hell. All true 
parables and figurative language must have reality 
for their foundation, and so had this narrative of our 
Lord, or it was deceptive, baseless, and unworthy the 
character of him who was styled the "Holy One of 
God." On the other hand, if it were a real history 
of facts, then the damnation of the rich man's soul is 
established, and no sophistry, or parabolical explana- 
tions can counteract our Saviour's assertion, who was 
the unfailing fountain of truth, without sophistry or 
guile. In either case, then, we place objectors in a 
dilemma from which mystical ingenuity can never 
extricate them. And they are now forced to admit 
a hell of misery after death, or to charge Christ with 
reprehensible inconsistency in his awful description 
of the rich man's situation in hell, and in his saying, 
u I am tormented in this flame," when, if Universal- 
ism be true, there was no hell of misery, nor tor- 
ments of damnation to be endured in eternity. 

St. Peter declares, that " God spared not the angels 
that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered 
them into ' chains of darkness to be reserved unto 
judgment." Tartarosas, the Greek word from which 
hell is here translated, is found nowhere else in the 
Greek Testament, and is of the same meaning as the 



DURATION OF HELL. 305 

Tartarus of the heathens, and cannot thus be viewed 
as a common appellation for the grave. For what 
reason could be assigned for casting angels or other 
immortal spirits into the grave, when immaterial 
beings could not be entombed like human bodies, and 
could meet with no more obstruction or actual con- 
finement, in a sod-wrapt grave or a rock-bound tomb, 
than an electric spark would in passing through the 
circumambient air. Therefore, this inspired state- 
ment of Peter, concerning the damnation of fallen 
angels, when viewed in relation to their immaterial 
nature, is an unanswerable argument in favor of the 
existence of a hell quite different from the grave of a 
human body. 

But another infallible proof of Our position is 
found in the Apocalypse, where it is said, in the twen- 
tieth chapter, Thanatos kai ho hades, " death and hell," 
were cast into limnen tou jpuros, or " the lake of fire." 
Now the lake of fire being consequent on death and 
the grave, cannot be logically made to mean the 
grave, which is then swallowed up in victory by a 
general resurrection, when the dead, small and great, 
stand before the great white throne of judgment ; and 
when, as expressed in the fifteenth verse, " whosoever 
was not found written in the book of life was cast into 
the lake of fire." And in the tenth verse, it is 
declared, that " the devil, that deceived them, was cast 
into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and 
the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and 

night, forever and ever." We are, therefore, forced 
20 



306 ON THE EXISTENCE, PUNISHMENT, AND 

'to admit a hell of punishment after the day of judg- 
ment, different from the grave, or to adopt the 
absurdity, that the grave existed after the resurrection 
and consummation of all things, and that all whose 
names were not written in the book of life, were cast 
down into the grave, when there was no grave, then, 
into which they could be cast. Alas ! for poor be- 
nighted sceptics, that discard a hell of future punish- 
ment, and lead thousands by sophistical speculations 
to trust in a fabrication of falsehood, while, through 
the mercy of God, the merits of Christ, and the 
influence of the Holy Ghost, they might be saved 
with all the power of an endless life in the kingdom 
of glory ; but, by transgressing the law, and refusing 
salvation on gospel terms, are juridically doomed to 
everlasting damnation. Having in the course of our 
proceedings sufficiently illustrated, argued, and estab- 
lished the Scripture doctrine of hell, in opposition 
to the views of those who deny a place of punish- 
ment beyond the grave, we shall now refer to another 
class of theorists, who believe in the existence of 
hell, but contend that its damnation will not be 
eternal, and that a period will arrive for the termina- 
tion of the punishment of the wicked in hell, and all 
be saved at last in heaven. 

II. Establish the eternal duration of the 

DAMNATION OF HELL. 

Those with whom we are now to contend are de- 
nominated hell-redemptionists, because they believe 



DURATION OF HELL. 



307 



that the torments of the damned will be terminated, 
and that all the subjects of penal endurance will be 
finally raised to glory, honor, and immortality, at 
God's right hand in heaven, to join. with the immortal 
hosts in the song of everlasting love. It is, however, 
fatal to this whole scheme that the pardon of sin and 
the sanctifying influences of -the Holy Ghost make no 
part of this scheme of salvation ; and may be over- 
looked by those who believe that their penal suffer- 
ings in hell will destroy sin and prepare the soul for 
glory, and be therefore made the saviour of sinners, 
by exacting the whole amount of misery required by 
the most inexorable justice. On these principles, the 
subjects of such salvation could not sing in the king- 
dom of glory : " Unto him that loved us, and washed 
ns from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us 
kings and priests unto God and his Father ; to him be 
glory and dominion forever and ever." No ! Such 
hell-scaped fugitives would have to remain speechless, 
or extol the purifying power of penal sufferings en- 
dured in hell, to prepare them for the society of the 
blessed in heaven. 

But notwithstanding all the baseless notions of vain 
mortals concerning hell-redemption, the truth of God 
shall unchangeably stand as recorded in the Gospel of 
Matthew, where it is declared that the King shall say 
"unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye 
cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and 
his angels." And. immediately after this announce- 
ment it is said, "And these shall go away into ever- 



308 ON THE EXISTENCE, PUNISHMENT, AND 

lasting punishment ; but the righteous into life eter- 
nal." Here the Greek word aionion is used alike in 
both cases, and represents the same duration in the 
punishment of the wicked as in the glory of the 
righteous. Dr. Clarke says : " No appeal, no remedy 
to all eternity! No end to the punishment of those 
whose final impenitence manifests in them an eternal 
will and desire to sin. By dying in a settled opposi- 
tion to God, they cast themselves into a necessity of 
continuing in an eternal aversion from him. But 
some are of opinion that this punishment shall have 
an end ; this is as likely as that the glory of the right- 
eous shall have an end ; for the same word is used to 
express the duration of the punishment, kolasin aionion, 
as is used to express the duration of the state of glory. 
I have seen the best things that have been written in 
favor of the final redemption of damned spirits ; but 
I never saw an answer to the argument against that 
doctrine, drawn from this verse, but what sound learn- 
ing and criticism should be ashamed to acknowledge. 
The original word aion is certainly to be taken here in 
its proper grammatical sense, continued being aieion, 
never ending. Some have gone a middle way, and 
think that the wicked shall be annihilated. Tl^js, I 
think, is contrary to the text ; if they go into punish- 
ment, they continue to exist ; for that which ceases to 
be, ceases to suffer." And though aionion is some- 
times used to signify a limited time, it is only in an 
accommodated sense ; but its real and original mean- 
ing must always be referred to in any important con- 



DURATION OF HELL. 



309 



troversy as that of the damnation of hell ought al- 
ways to be understood. Aionion, in the Greek lan- 
guage, is the strongest word to exhibit the eternal 
existence of God himself. See Romans xvi. 26 : tou 
aioniou Theou, "the everlasting God;" and in further 
proof of which, and to establish my argument as 
strongly as possible, I now quote a whole verse from 
1 Timothy, i. 17 : " To cle Basilei ton aionon, aphtharto, 
aorato, mono sopho Theo time kai doxa eis tous aionas ton 
aionon. Amen" " Now unto the King eternal, immor- 
tal, invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory 
forever and ever. Amen." Here we find that the 
same duration applied to the eternal existence, and 
honor and glory of God, is that by which the eternity 
of damnation is represented in Matt. xxv. 46. And 
Paul, after being caught up in a vision to the third 
heaven, and on his return from the God-built residence 
of the King of kings, applied* the word aionion to the 
duration of the "house not made with hands, eternal 
in the heavens." 

These facts place an insurmountable barrier in the 
way of those who believe in hell-redemption. And 
they can now take no flattering unction to their souls, 
because the word everlasting or eternal is sometimes 
applied to that which is terminable in duration. For 
when Inspiration applies aionion to transitory things, 
which must, from their own nature and the circum- 
stances in which they are placed, come to an end, it is 
in a figurative sense, and means the whole duration of 
the objects, events, and arrangements to which the 



310 ON THE EXISTENCE, PUNISHMENT, AND 

word refers ; and if any would endeavor to obviate its 
endless import, because of its figurative application to 
the things of time, then, on that same principle, they 
would terminate the eternal duration of the existence 
of God himself. To avoid this absurdity, we must 
admit that there is nothing necessarily terminable in 
the real nature of the word itself, though in many in- 
stances applied to duration of long but limited con- 
tinuance. It is an established fact that hell-redemp- 
tionists cannot disprove, and against which no honest 
Biblical scholar can intelligently contend, that when 
aionion refers to duration beyond the day of judg- 
ment, it must be logically and positively understood 
in its onward flux of eternal duration ; and, therefore, 
when Jehovah shall say, " Depart from me, ye cursed, 
into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his 
angels," there is no Scripture ground on which we can 
absolutely stand to prove that he will ever reverse the 
sentence ; so any expectation of redemption from hell 
must be founded on, or arise from, a wrong interpre- 
tation of the Bible, or must be derived from something 
to produce that hope, which God has not revealed to 
the world. And if hell-redemptionists will rely on 
the roamings of their own imaginations, rather than 
on the command of God to repent, believe, and obey, 
they must be responsible for their own folly, and eter- 
nal justice will be clear in their overthrow, because 
they chose death in the error of their ways, and would 
not receive salvation, as offered in the Gospel of God's 
only begotten son. When the decisions of legal jus- 



DURATION OF HELL. 



311 



tice consign a transgressor of law to prison in this 
world, it is never supposed that his imprisonment and 
sufferings would destroy his crime or change his na- 
ture ; but are designed to prevent him from infringing 
on the rights of others, and to make him endure the 
penalty of violated law, that he might have obeyed in 
union with the peaceful subjects of good government ; 
and so it is in hell : eternal justice confines criminals 
to keep them from injuring the innocent, that God has 
promised to protect, and to make them suffer the mere 
penalty of their wickedness, without their sufferings 
having any tendency to purify the soul from sin, or to 
extricate sinners from damnation. 

Jesus Christ said to Mcodemus : " Yerily, verily, I 
say unto thee, except" a man be born of water and of 
the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of Gocl." 
Now we maintain that hell- inspired sophistry cannot 
twist this passage into the meaning that a man may 
have a new birth unto righteousness in hell, or be 
born of water and of the Spirit while enduring penal 
damnation; and except he is born again, he cannot 
enter the eternal paradise of G-od. Eeason and reve- 
lation laugh to scorn all unscriptural notions of salva- 
tion ; and a hell-redemptionist ought to either give up 
his Bible or renounce all hope of heaven by future 
punishment, for " He that believeth on the Son hath 
everlasting life ; and he that believeth not the Son, 
shall not see life ; but the wrath of God abicleth on 
him." This great truth now blazes forth from a 
heaven-kindled beacon on the isthmus of time to pre- 



312 ON THE EXISTENCE, PUNISHMENT, AND 

vent us from wrecking our immortal interests on the 
thunder-beaten coast of eternity. The unchangeable 
principles of cause and effect prove that no effect can 
react and destroy the cause to which it owes its exist- 
ence ; and, therefore, no sufferings in hell can destroy 
the wickedness from whence the sufferings of the 
damned flow. To deny this, would be a contradiction 
for which no real logician would contend, and of which 
even an ignoramus ought to be ashamed. It is* an 
axiom in philosophy that the power which destroys 
must always be greater than that destroyed, and for 
punishment to destroy sin, would be therefore greater 
than the sin destroyed, which, in good logic, would be 
a contradiction that no scientific or highly improved 
understanding could seriously advocate. 

If, then, sufferings merely arising from sin cannot 
destroy that sin, and prepare the soul for eternal hap- 
piness, it also follows, on moral and philosophical 
principles, that an infliction of punishment by Divine 
justice cannot destroy sin ; for, as we have already 
seen, the power that destroys must be greater than 
what is destroyed, and a punishment greater than the 
sins committed would be obviously unjust, and could 
not be inflicted by a God of everlasting righteousness ; 
and, therefore, the torments of hell in this, as in all 
other respects to which a hell-redemptionist might 
have recourse, cannot effect salvation. 

We maintain, that a love of righteous order, a per- 
petuation of heavenly happiness, and a faithful pro- 
tection of all the rights of obedient subjects, will cause 



DUKATION OF HELL. 



313 



Jehovah to preclude impenitent sinners from the in- 
heritance of saints and angels above, and to cast them 
down to damnation below ; and we find, after strict 
investigation, fair arguments, and logical conclusions, 
that the theories of universalism . are fallacious, and 
contrary to the aionion punishment revealed in the 
Bible. 

III. In what the punishment of hell consists. 

1. The loss of all the riches, honors, and pleasures of 
this world, for which many sinners forfeit their title to 
heaven, will be an unwelcome part of their torment. 
The righteous, who look forward to purer climes and 
more substantial joys, view its perishable vanities as 
the flower of the field, that blooms at noon-tide, and 
is cut down by the evening blast. But far different 
thoughts occupy the mind of him who makes this 
world his god and his all. He that adds house to 
house, and field to field, and calls upon his soul to 
" eat, drink, and be merry," and to rejoice in tile pros- 
pect of long years to come, for which he has much 
goods laid up in store, hates the messenger that tears 
him away from them all. It would, even in hell, be 
some alleviation of the sinner's sufferings, if this world's 
enjoyments could be experienced' in connection with 
all the circumstances that surrounded his earthly 
career, while he was posting his onward way in the 
busy scenes of life, without any sincere desire to lay 
up a treasure in heaven. But, alas! death separated 
him from the whole mundane scenes of time, without 



314 ON THE EXISTENCE, PUNISHMENT, AND 

having any moral fitness for the enjoyments of eternity ; 
and his immortal spirit sank to hell, where he could 
not enjoy the smallest comfort that ever soothed the 
jonrney of life. For there all the wealth, honor, and 
pleasure are lost, for which the sinner lost his soul. 
And then, O then ! the important question that Jesus 
Christ propounded, will come with awful weight to 
the intellectual capacities of damned human beings, 
and demand an answer, in the realm of everlasting 
misery, that all the inhabitants of hell can explain 
from their own damnation, while they feel the import 
of: "What shall it profit a man if he shall gain the 
whole world and lose his own soul ?" Then conscious- 
ness, when confined to the actions, thoughts, and 
motions of the immaterial spirit, and the conscience, 
or moral sense, as some have denominated it, extend- 
ing to the real nature of moral accountability to God, 
will bring their hellish verdict, according to moral, 
intellectual, and legal principles, and charge home 
upon the damned an amount of moral turpitude and 
condemnation that will astonish them in the caverns 
of hell, where Satan can have no interest or power to 
blind them as he did, to some extent, in this world, 
by leading them to resist the light and refuse the 
grace that would have brought them salvation on 
earth, and crowns and thrones of glory in heaven. 
But when damned they see clearly that all good is for- 
ever gone, and hell is now their eternal home. Then 
conscience, no longer deafened by the voice of pleasure, 
nor bribed by the promise of reformation, shaH fear- 



DURATION" OF HELL. 



315 



fully fulfil its office, and blame the faithless fugitive 
for all his past transgressions. A doleful remembrance 
of opportunities neglected, mercies slighted, and grace 
refused, will awfully augment the sinner's punishment, 
as he passes down the range of everlasting ages, in 
operation with those circumstances that are insepara- 
bly connected with the infernal regions, where the 
devil presides in hellish authority, and carries onward 
his dark and damning administration. 

2. The society with whom the damned soul shall he 
associated, will fearfully increase its misery. In this 
world, the most abominable may afford their fellows 
some enjoyment, and by a union of affections, a re- 
ciprocity of sympathies, and a reception and distribu- 
tion of favors, the evils of life may be considerably 
lessened, and much temporal good be enjoyed. But 
in hell, the dearest earthly ties are broken, and the 
fell principles of malice and hatred exercised. The 
vile, and the vilest of the vile, from all nations, kin- 
dreds, tongues, and people, shall dwell in hideous 
assemblage in that God-forsaken realm, and by their 
combinations can afford each other no happiness. 
Even the human voice, that charmed listening thou- 
sands on earth by its eloquence, will add to the 
horrors of hell by uttering incongruous sounds of 
mourning, lamentation, and woe, that shall ring as 
eternal death-dirges through all the caverns of deep 
damnation. There the soul-damning principles of re- 
bellion against God, and treachery, treason, and injus- 
tice to man, upon which they practiced here, shall 



316 ON THE EXISTENCE, PUNISHMENT, AND 



have their full reward. For God has said, " Woe 
unto the wicked ! it shall be ill with him ; for the 
reward of his hands shall be. given him." And 
though the transitory circumstances under which sin- 
ners operated on earth shall have no place in hell, the 
principles of unrighteousness shall nevertheless still 
remain, and grow up in everlasting opposition to all 
good, and bring, in the constant exercise of the intel- 
lectual powers in evil, an amount of misery that 
I have « no sufficient language to express or ca- 
pacity to fully understand in this earthly state of 
existence. 

The society of devils will also be an augmentation 
of the sinner's misery. For it is evident, from the 
language of Christ, that human beings will be as- 
sociated in hell with the devil and fallen angelic 
spirits. For he declares, in the Gospel of Matthew, 
that the King shall say unto them on the left hand, 
" Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, pre- 
pared for the devil and his angels." There the infer- 
nal monarch, that once deceived the unrighteous with 
fair promises and false pretences, shall appear in all 
his sin-disfigured deformity, and with the authority 
of a God-forsaken tyrant will maintain his horrid 
ascendency over all the damned. And O, how de- 
plorably degrading it will be for those who were 
ashamed, in this world, to bow at the shrine of sal- 
vation, and to worship " the high and lofty One of 
eternity," to have to bow down at the throne of hell, 
to pay homage to the devil himself, while they were 



DUKATION OF HELL. 317 

increasing their own misery by carrying forward his 

cruel mandates ! 

3. Another fearful circumstance in the situation of 

the ungodly, will be the Lake of Fire. Now, if we apply 

these words to the damnation of hell's torments, they 

are truly awful, and we know no earthly state of 

things in relation to which, except to the sea of fire 

when the world is burned and sinners damned, they 

could have a consistent application. But John, in 

speaking of the righteous and the wicked, declares, 

that " whosoever was not found written in the book 
i 

of life, was cast into the lake of fire." This, there- 
fore, taking place as a result of the day of judgment, 
would fix the "lake of fire" in eternity relative to 
the damned. But some have thought that the fire of 
hell is figurative, and I lean -to that side of the ques- 
tion, as seemingly the most reasonable ; and I know 
nothing in the nature of Divine justice that would 
require a punishment inflicted by material fire in the 
damnation of hell — for all the ends of good gorern- 
ment could, in my opinion, be accomplished without 
that, as far as I can now see. And as the Bible men- 
tions the fire itself without saying whether it is real 
or figurative, there ought to be a great latitude allowed 
on this subject, since the decision of this question 
either way is not essential to salvation. But if we 
could now demonstrate that it is only figurative fire, 
even then, how dreadfully awful must be the punish- 
ment that would require such language to represent 
its reality ! If, on the other hand, it be real fire, 



818 ON the existence, punishment, and 

0, how unspeakably terrible must it be to "dwell 
with everlasting burnings." And now, without wish- 
ing to be understood as attempting to decide the con- 
troversy on either side according to my own judgment 
concerning this mysterious subject, which eternity 
will more fully unfold, or of resting in any sense on 
the excathedra arguments of others, I would only as- 
sert, in opposition to all sophists, mystagogues, and 
infidels, that deny the existence of hell altogether, 
and would laugh at the idea of fire in hell even if they 
believed in its damnation, that it would be as philo- 
sophic to affirm that fire could prey on an immortal ♦ 
body in hell, as it could on a natural body on earth. 
For the change that we are to undergo in the resur- 
rection, will not be from materiality to immateriality, 
but from mortal to immortality ; and thus, when the 
fire of Divine justice would burn with inextinguisha- 
ble energy in the sinner's soul, material fire could be 
actually used to punish his body, if infinite wisdom 
wished its application as a part of the penalty of vio- 
lated law. But as the sinner's punishment will be so 
terrible, from other circumstances, it cannot be con- 
sidered as essential to the strength of our argument 
to have it incontrovertibly decided whether the fire is 
real or figurative, seeing that, in either case, the lan- 
guage of inspiration would indicate an awful damna- 
tion for those who die in their sins. And though 
great mysteriousness may rest on many things con- 
nected with the invisible world, yet all beings in 
heaven, earth, and hell, may be well assured that 



DURATION OF HELL. 



319 



Jehovah will do right, and that his wisdom, justice, 
power, and goodness, shall be as conspicuously mani- 
fested to the inhabitants of hell, according to the 
nature of their situation, as to the most obedient of 
his subjects in other parts of his dominions. He is 
the great Father of all, and hates nothing that he has 
made. He only hates the sin and moral contamina- 
tion that make sentient beings opposed to his admin- 
istration and their own happiness. And as there are 
degrees in crime, so shall there be degrees in punish- 
ment; and the smallest offender against God and 
righteousness that died in his sins, and had no quali- 
fication for heaven, can be as justly confined in the 
infernal regions, throughout eternal duration, as the 
most flagrant transgressors. 

4 The transcendent glories of heaven from which 
the ungodly shall be everlastingly excluded, will be 
another prominent part of their misery. Heaven 
is the city of the great King, and in unrivalled 
splendor surpasses all human description. There, in 
endless variety, the dispensations of Divine glory are 
unfolded, and the crowns and thrones of eternal blessed- 
ness are distributed. The righteous " shall shine as 
the brightness of the firmament ; and they that turn 
many to righteousness, as the stars forever and ever." 
They shall engage in those transporting employments, 
and act in obedience to those requirements that shall 
secure, through the indwelling fulness of infinite love, 
their safety and happiness while the throne of God 
endures. "Ten thousand times ten thousand, and 



320 ON THE EXISTENCE, PUNISHMENT, AND 

thousands of thousands of angels," and all the supra- 
mundane hosts shall join with blood-bought saints 
to sweep the loud-strung lyre, and roll the melodi- 
ous anthem of redeeming love along the tide of ever- 
lasting ages. And O, dreadful to relate ! the sinner 
loses all the boundless enjoyments of heaven above, 
for the transitory scenes and circumstances of this 
world below. And when he looks up from the depth 
of his degradation in hell to the great metropolis of 
God's dominions, rising in snow-white grandeur 
before his eye, or imagination, and contemplates the 
extent and eternity of his loss, and then reflects on 
the trifling things of time, for which he forfeited his 
title to an inheritance among the blessed, the pang of 
remorse and misery will be indescribably felt; and 
wail after wail of deep and dark despair, shall echo 
the perpetuation of his eternal imprisonment. 

5. But the loss of God himself will he the most insup- 
portable concomitant of all the component parts of the 
'punishment of a damned soul. A transgressor of the 
law of God, all afloat after riches, honors, and pleas- 
ures here, scarcely ever thinks of this loss being any 
part of his misery hereafter. And when some are 
awakened to a sense of their danger, they only trem- 
ble at an apprehension of a lake of fire, and a society 
of devils and damned spirits, while the everlasting loss 
of God forms but a small or no part of the punishment 
to which they seem to feel themselves exposed. But 
when a sinner is damned, he becomes sensible of his 
infinite loss, and then finds that when the chief good 



DURATION OF HELL.* 321 

is forever gone, the punishment of hell is complete. 
Then the immortal spirit, fully awakened to a sense 
of its desperate situation, sees that Jehovah is an un- 
bounded ocean of endless blessedness, suited to the 
most enlarged capacities and desires of all holy intelli- 
gences in his vast dominions ; who derive the most 
substantial and unfailing felicity from the communica- 
tions of his inexhaustible goodness, which the sub- 
jects of Satan forever lose, in having forfeited God's 
eternal favor, and in being consigned for sin and re- 
fusing salvation, to the abodes of the rebellious. 
There ungodly men and devils, placed beyond all 
scriptural expectation of ever enjoying the smallest 
degree of happiness, shall deplore the loss of all good, 
in having lost (rod. Therefore this loss is the highest 
climax to which my argument on future punishment 
can ascend, and forms the deepest damnation in which 
a sinner can be sunk ; and this indescribable depriva- 
tion, and the fearful circumstances that I have consecu- 
tively explained in connection with eternal damna- 
tion, shall endlessly show the tremendous consequen- 
ces of serving the devil, neglecting salvation, and 
ruining the soul. 
21 



SERMON XL 
THE HEAVEN OF HEAVENS, 

THE VAST 

METROPOLIS OF ALL GOD'S DOMINIONS, 

AND THE GLORIOUS HOME OF ALL THE SAINTS, IN 
ETERNAL UNION WITH ANGELS AND ALL 
THE IMMORTAL HOSTS OF THAT 
BRIGHT REALM. 



" Rejoice and be exceeding glad : for great is yonr reward 
in heaven." — Matt. v. 12. 

These are the words of Jesus Christ to his dis- 
ciples; and through them to all his true followers ; 
who are commanded to be joyful amidst all the trials, 
sufferings, and sorrows of life, in hope of a great 
reward in heaven, and from whence, according to his 
promise, he will come and receive them to himself, 
that where he is, there they may be also. The Holy 
Scriptures, in various places, exhibit heaven as a 
place of transcendent greatness, where, to an inde- 
scribable extent, Jehovah displays his glory to all the 
heavenly society. Moses proclaimed to the ancient 
C322) 



THE HEAVEN OF HEAVENS. 323 

Israelites the glorious existence of heaven, and joy- 
fully referred to its everlasting rewards. The royal 
Psalmist, "the sweet singer of Israel," dwelt with 
ineffable delight on that far-famed realm of the King 
of kings. And though he was one of the greatest 
monarchs that ever shone in the blaze of earth's 
magnificence, surrounded with the ensigns of human 
royalty, he exultingly looked up to that place of sacred- 
ness, and psalmody, and far-spread fame, where hosts 
unnumbered hymn the throne, and adore the high and 
lofty One of eternity. Solomon, at the dedication of 
the Jewish temple, that in glorious grandeur reared its 
high head in the sunbeams of heaven, and stood un- 
rivalled in architectural skill amidst the mechanical 
wisdom and glory of nations, exclaimed, in praise of 
the great Architect who devised the plan, and carried 
it forward to final completion : " But will God indeed 
dwell on the earth ? Behold the heaven and the 
heaven of heavens cannot contain thee ; how much less 
this house that I have builded." Here the mind of the 
ruler of Israel was raised to the city of the living 
Grod, where unoriginated majesty shone with un- 
clouded splendor in the great centre of universal 
empire, to which Elijah soared, when he mounted the 
Almighty's whirlwind that swept by the banks of 
Jordan, and ascended in a car of fire to the palace 
and throne of Jehovah in the heavenly world, that 
blazed with unspeakable brilliancy amidst the suns 
and systems of immensity, which in panoramic beauty 
rolled round the central world of all worlds. 



324 



THE HEAVEN OF HEAVENS. 



This heavenly realm is the grand subject of present 
explanation, so far as mortal man can explore the 
transcendent scenes of heaven's bright and everlasting 
realities, that now beam on the optics of my under- 
standing, through the Book of the unsearchable God, 
and lead me, through the influence of the Holy Ghost, to 
describe, in the first place, the heaven of heavens in its 
own immortal brightness, as the glorious home of all 
God's true followers. Secondly, shew the ground on 
which we are to be admitted into that blessed abode 
of saints, angels, and supramundane powers. And 
Thirdly, the eternal happiness of that God -created 
kingdom, that arises in snow-white purity as the vast 
metropolis of all worlds, from whence messages 
fraught with endless fame may go forth to the farthest 
regions of" the whole universe, in the strictest union 
with the unchangeable counsels of wisdom, power, and 
goodness, that encircle the throne of the universal 
Monarch. 

I. Describe the heaven of heavens in its own 

TRANSCENDENT SPLENDOR, AND AS THE GLORIOUS 
HOME OF ALL GOD'S TRUE FOLLOWERS IN ONE 
ETERNAL UNION OF PUREST FRIENDSHIP. 

1. Heaven is a created world of greatness and 
grandeur beyond all description. Creation, in its origi- 
nal import, is to bring into being that which once 
had no existence; therefore, there was a period in 
eternal duration when God only existed in the eternal 
solitude of his own unoriginated Spirit. But, in the 



THE HEAVEN OF HEAVENS. 



325 



plenitude of his boundless goodness, it pleased him 
to bring other beings into existence to adore his name, 
feel his power, and grow up after his perfections in the 
enjoyment of complete happiness. And though we 
profess no explanatory access to the immediate point 
in eternal duration when omnipotence was exerted in 
producing the first part of creation, we may neverthe- 
less, assert, that creation, in its data and formation, could 
not be eternal ; so we must contemplate some moment 
of its commencement, when Jehovah arose from his 
eternal solitude to circumscribe the bounds of his 
created dominions, and to bid substantial being 
spring forth from the word of his power. And 
whether he first formed the heaven of heavens, as the 
grand centre of his empire, or caused at once, prior 
to all other things created, beings of a transcendent 
order to inhabit space, then only filled by the omni- 
presence of his eternal Spirit, is not revealed. But 
the heaven of heavens may have been the first part 
of Jehovah's created works, on which his creative 
power was put forth in forming a grand habitation for 
the first created spirits to concentrate in glorious 
assemblage to worship the high and mighty Euler of all 
worlds. For as heaven is a place as well as a state of 
felicity, it would comport more with the happiness of 
angels, to have a stated residence in which to specially 
worship the great Creator, than if they were constantly 
floating through boundless space, without any local 
centre of moral action congenial to their angelic 
nature, to bind them more closely to the throne of 



326 



THE HEAVEN OF HEAVENS. 



Supreme government in the great capital of universal 
empire, where in endless variety the dispensations of 
Divine glory would be unfolded and the rewards 
of righteousness eternally conferred. In that realm 
of created greatness and grandeur, there will be trans- 
cendent scenes to charm the eye and delight the 
imagination ; the grand spangled glories of the etherial 
firmament above, and the wide-spread splendors that 
shall open in the circumference around, will far sur- 
pass all description, as they beam forth in heavenly 
blessedness and immortal glory, figuratively held 
forth in the poetic and sublime language of pearly 
gates, jasper walls, cyprian groves, hesperian gardens, 
elysian fields, amaranthine bowers, and purling 
streams dancing over sands of gold, and melodiously 
rolling along the heavenly landscape of green-grown 
meadows, dew-decked lawns, and delightful prospects, 
where saints and angels gather unfading flowers and 
deathless laurels to deck the crown of God's only Son 
on the highest pinnacle of eternal fame, where the 
Eiver of Life flows unceasingly onward from the un- 
bounded source of everlasting love to make the 
heaven of heavens bloom in one eternal spring, with 
the Tree of Life that rears its green head and invites 
blood-washed millions to a participation of its own 
immortality in spiritual union with the immortal God 
as the unfailing source of all blessedness, and the 
Creator of all worlds. 

2. The heaven of heavens in the grand metropolis of all 
Jehovah's dominions. This is fairly inferred from the 



THE HEAVEN OF HEAVENS. 



prominent position that it occupies in the Sacred 
Oracles, as the place where the throne of Divine 
government is established according to the testimony 
of David, who assures us, that "the Lord's throne is in 
heaven." Heaven is the great centre of all Jehovah's 
governmental superintendence, and all worlds are sup- 
posed to revolve around that, as planets around the 
sun as the centre of our system, and that sheds his 
flaming splendors on the azure sky that canopies this 
low world, from whence myriads shall go up with 
songs and everlasting joy to the grand capital as the 
immovable seat of the whole Supreme monarchy of 
"the King eternal, immortal, invisible;" and from 
whence he combines and commingles all within his 
vast realm in one unchangeable administration that 
must sweep eternal ages in righteousness and true 
holiness, and keep up a reciprocity of spiritual action 
between all holy beings that are governed and the 
Supreme Governor. Isaiah sayeth, " In the year that 
king Uzziah died, I saw, also, the Lord sitting upon a 
throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the 
temple. Above it stood the seraphim: each one had 
six wings ; with twain he covered his face, and with 
twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. 
And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, 
holy, is the Lord of hosts." Heaven is the city of the 
great King; "the city which hath foundations, whose 
builder and maker is God." And in the sublime lan- 
guage of an oriental Israelite we may exclaim, 
" Glorious things are spoken of thee, O, city of God. 



328 THE HEAVEN OF HEAVENS. 



Selah !" It rises in God-built greatness as the heaven- 
originated Metropolis, in all its ineffable glory, and 
on which I have only superficially expatiated, as 
being too grand for my most . exalted strains, in 
describing the greatness of the Monarch, the splen- 
dors of the throne, and the eternal residence of all the 
righteous in the highest heaven of heavens, where 
the Divine government shall, be endlessly exalted 
amidst all the angels, saints, and supramundane 
powers in firm allegiance to the Almighty Sovereign, 
who is God over all, and blessed for evermore. 

3. Heaven is the special residence of the Most High 
God, who combines all intelligences in one wide and 
wondrous administration ; while at the same time his pre- 
sence in heaven is connected with all that is great, and 
grand, and pure, and holy in his dominions. And though 
from the infinity of his existence, he must, at the same 
moment, fill all space, he nevertheless manifests him- 
self more gloriously in the heaven of heavens than 
in any other place in his dominions. For, according 
to the Bible, the great cyclopedia of knowledge, 
truth, and righteousness, there are in that glorious 
world grand orders of intelligent spirits to behold his 
glory, sing his praise, and adore his name, in highest 
strains of rapturous joy, above all human thought, 
with sweetest song to roll upon the ear of immortality 
in soft, melodious numbers, and to charm the whole 
unnumbered millions that exalt Jehovah, God, who 
sits upon the throne, and that praise the Lamb, who 
purchased the Adamic race with his own blood, and 



THE HEAVEN OF HEAVENS. 



329 



led his people safely through the snares of vice to 
join the chorus of the skies, where supreme Divinity 
still resides ; and myriads sweep the loud-strung lyre, 
and chant the anthems of redeeming love to* Father, 
Son, and Holy Ghost, whose fame shall there sublimely 
sound around the circling cycles of eternity, and un- 
originated Deity still be all in all in that eternal realm 
of endless joy. 

4. Heaven is the place vjhere the glorified humanity of 
Jesus Christ is exalted above all principality and power, 
and every name that can be named in heaven and earth. 
In that immaculate* humanity the Godhead dwelt, to 
carry forward the great plan of salvation as upheld 
by eternal Divinity, to make a free and full atone- 
ment for all mankind by dying on the cross, and offer- 
ing up his life for the life of the world. And after 
rising from the rock-bound tomb of Joseph, as the 
resurrection and the life of all his followers; and 
after dragging the king of terrors from his throne of 
skulls, and opening the eyelids of the morning on the 
deepest and darkest recesses of death; and having 
spoiled principalities and powers, and spiritual wicked- 
ness in high places, he ascended the chariot of the 
skies and passed the trackless orbits of the comets, 
and all the celestial spheres, until the herald of eternal 
salvation surprised the throne with songs and shouts 
of wonder, love, and praise, that Messiah had returned 
from victory's broad field with the spoils of glorious 
warfare from his enemies, as proofs of his triumphant 
conquests over, sin, death, and hell, to sit down in 



330 



THE HEAVEN OF HEAVENS. 



endless triumph on the throne of indescribable glory, 
where jubilees of angelic welcome would be loudly 
sung, and shouts of immortal joy fill the everlasting 
regions. And when he opened the book sealed with 
seven seals, to pour forth the unchangeable counsels 
of the Godhead on a tide of explanatory splendor along 
the range of endless duration, then " ten thousand times 
ten thousand, and thousands of thousands," said with 
a loud voice, " Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to 
receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, 
and honor, and glory, and blessing." And John, in his 
glorious vision of the exaltation of Jesus Christ in 
heaven, also adds, with indescribable exultation : "And 
every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, 
and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and 
all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and 
honor, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth 
upon the throne, and unto the Lamb forever and ever. 
And the four beasts said, Amen. And the four and 
twenty elders fell down and worshipped him that 
liveth forever and ever." Through that glorified 
humanity in the heaven of heavens we now offer to 
eternal Divinity all our spiritual adoration ; and 
through that medium, in time and eternity, saints 
shall receive communications from the inexhaustible 
source of everlasting love, and through Jesus Christ cru- 
cified and eternally exalted shall grow up after infinite 
perfection, and endlessly rejoice that the place of their 
eternal rewards is where the humanity that died upon 
the cross is united in closest union with the infinite 



THE HEAVEN OF HEAVENS. 



331 



essence in the star-gemmed kingdom of immortal 
glory, and adds indescribable magnificence to the 
heaven of heavens. 

5. Heaven is the glorious home of all the saints, where 
nngelic armies and immortal hosts join in unending as- 
sociation. There, in grand and regular order, will be 
the first-born sons of light, who sang creation's song, 
and shouted for joy when this world rolled in original 
beauty from the plastic hand o*f the great Creator. 
There will be thrones and dominions, principalities 
and powers, and myriads of white-winged messengers 
of the King of kings, ready to perform, with joyful 
speed, his will, in any part of the supreme monarchy, 
as sent on errands of importance from the great centre 
of all worlds that roll in the regions of immensity. 
There is an indescribable variety in God's works ; and 
so far as astronomy, micrography, and observation 
prove, there are not two things exactly alike in form, 
weight, and measure. And on this ground, we may 
imagine the great variety in the created orders of the 
heavenly society, and in which, in the ascending series 
of created existences, there must be one order of 
beings, or one vast intelligence, above all the rest, to 
fill with created splendor and intelligent magnificence, 
so far as possible, the indescribable chasm between an 
uncreated God and created beings, and to exist as the 
first link in being's endless chain next to God himself, 
who would bid him shine forth as the greatest intel- 
ligence ever created, or that would be created, through 
the rolling succession of eternal ages. In union with 



832 THE HEAVEN OF HEAVENS. 



all the immortal throng of intelligences shining in 
the dazzling splendors of heaven's bright kingdom, 
there will be innumerable hosts of saints, from every 
nation, language, kindred, tongue, and people, who 
"washed their robes and made them white in the 
blood of the Lamb." There, patriarchs and prophets, 
Jews and Christians, and numbers of heathens, who 
never heard the gospel, but lived up to the light they 
had from the Greaf Spirit, and the works of nature, 
that show forth Jehovah's power and Godhead in the 
visible things of creation, shall surround the throne 
in glorious assemblage, and as " one star differeth from 
another star in glory," so shall it be in that blood- 
bought society. In this great variety there shall be 
aged saints, that died in the triumphs of faith, full of 
age and full of honors, whose long experience in 
righteousness will give them, through the merits of 
Jesus, the mercy of God, and the influence of the 
Holy Ghost, great heavenly eminence. There will be 
the youth who died in life's green spring, who shall 
flourish in immortal blessedness, and grow up after 
eternal Deity, on the principles of endless progression. 
And 0, who can count, or tell, the numbers without 
number, of those who died in the smiles and beauty 
of -infantile innocence? All these, without exception, 
shall stand before the throne, in all that spotless purity 
with which they entered heaven, where their capaci- 
ties will be enlarged, and where the inexhaustible 
fountain of joy shall flow on with the endless duration 
of their existence, in the heaven of heavens, as the 



THE HEAVEN OF HEAVEN'S. 



333 



place of their eternal glorification revealed in the 
Bible. 

But while we hold that heaven is the place of our 
eternal rewards, some assert that the new earth will 
be the place of our final abode ; and it will therefore 
be theologically proper to have our minds satisfied on 
this point, that stands so intimately connected with 
the inspired realities of our future abode. The Scrip- 
ture fact that this earth will be renewed after the con- 
flagration, is a doctrine that has come down the range 
of ages. Ancient Jews wrote and spoke of its future 
reality as a glorious work of the Almighty Architect. 
Greek and barbarian philosophers held the doctrine 
in common with the Jews. The Stoics supposed there 
would be a new world, or another frame of nature. 
Orpheus, the founder of the Greek Mythology, Pytha- 
goras, the great astronomer, and the divine Plato, 
proclaimed the renewal of this earth. Persians, Chal- 
deans, and India Brahmins believed it ; and Christian 
fathers published it as of Divine origin. Justin 
Martyr, Ireneus, Origen, Basil, the two Cyrils of 
Jerusalem, Alexander, the two Gregories, Chrysostom, 
Tertullian, Hillary, Ambrose, Austin, and many later 
writers, among whom were our own Wesley and 
Clarke, hailed it as a heaven-inspired truth. St. John 
exclaimed: "And I saw a new heaven, and a new 
earth ; for the first heaven and the first earth were 
passed away." And St. Peter, when speaking of the 
conflagration of this world, says : " Nevertheless we, 
according to his promise, look for new heavens and a 



J 



334: 



THE HEAVEN OF HEAVENS. 



new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness." This 
passage of Peter is supposed by some to be strong 
proof that the new earth will be our glorious home after 
the day of general judgment. But the mere fact of 
looking for such things as the apostle specifies, would 
not determine the point in controversy. For if look- 
ing for these things to happen, imply that we are to 
inherit the new earth, then, on that same principle of 
interpretation, we must inhabit the new heavens too, 
for we look for them also ; and it will now devolve on 
the advocates of this doctrine to show how we could 
eternally dwell in both, as the argument t>f looking is 
the same in each case. "We may thus see that, in 
contending for the new earth as the final abode of 
saints, because of the language of Peter, we would 
run that side of the controversy, into an evident ex- 
treme, and seemingly contradict some of the plainest 
passages in the Bible, which assure us, if not wrongly 
interpreted, that our kingdom of glory will be in the 
heaven to which Christ ascended to plead our cause 
and prepare our place. But perhaps the greatest 
difficulty with some is, that they cannot imagine for 
what God would renovate this world, except for our 
endless habitation. There may, however, notwith- 
standing our shortsightedness, be sufficient reasons in 
operation with the range of Jehovah's administration, 
for the purification of this globe without making it 
the place of our eternal rewards. The chaos from 
which our world was formed, may have been the ele- 
ments of a conflagrated world, where intelligent wor- 



THE HEAVEN OF HEAVENS. 



335 



shippers once adored the Almighty Sovereign, and in 
the revolution of ages may have passed away under 
changes to which we now can have no explanatory 
access. And we may suppose, and even believe, that 
there is a very strong probability that the life-giving 
fiat of Jehovah will bid another race of beings walk 
the delightful arbors of another paradise in the new 
earth, where songs of praise will arise in grateful 
adoration to the God of all, and where the righteous- 
ness of which the apostle spoke will fully comport 
with his inspired declaration. But it may, however, 
be asserted, that if sin had not entered into this world 
it would then have been the endless abode of the 
whole human race ; and when the righteous would in- 
herit it, after the resurrection, they would then enjoy 
it according to Jehovah's original design. Now, we 
acknowledge that this view, at first sight, seems some- 
what formidable ; for if moral evil had not entered 
our world, there could have been- no reasonable cause 
for its conflagration, and therefore, as some would 
think, be the original and proper place for the rewards 
of righteousness. But however strong the argument 
founded on these assertions may seem, it is neverthe- 
less fallacious ; for in {he unfallen state of mankind 
there could have been no death to thin the inhabi- 
tants of the earth; for "death came by sin;" and in 
the range of ages, this world would be overstocked 
with human beings, and the surplus population would 
have to be transmitted to heaven, or to some other 
place in God's dominions, if the further perpetuation 



X 



386 THE HEAVEN OF HEAVENS. 



of the race would not be terminated ; so this objec- 
tion, founded on the original state of the world, 
vanishes, and leaves my argument valid in this, as in 
the former instance, in favor of heaven being the ever- 
lasting inheritance of all the saints, to dwell with an- 
gels and other glorified spirits in the heaven of heav- 
ens. In further proof of my doctrine, I may now 
refer to a few passages of Scripture that amount to 
all the force of inspired truth. Christ said to. his dis- 
ciples, in the language of the text : "Kejoice, and be 
exceeding glad : for great is your reward in heaven." 
We find no place in the Bible where the new earth is 
called heaven, and therefore how can it be viewed as 
the heaven of our reward without involving an obvi- 
ous contradiction ? Christ, also, prior to his departure 
to God the Father, said to the apostles, and through 
them to all his followers—" I go to prepare a place 
for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I 
will come again, and receive you unto myself; that 
where I am, there ye may be also." Now, the place 
that he went to prepare for his people could not be in 
the new earth, for as such it could have no existence 
until after the resurrection and general judgment, 
when he will -take his followers 'to a place already pre- 
pared for them in heaven. Here, now, we have a 
demonstration that no sophistry can pervert, or argu- 
ment overthrow. We shall now crown the climax of 
all arguments on this subject by the incontestable tes- 
timony given by St. Paul, who was caught up to the 
third heaven, and on his return from that God-built 



THE HEAVEN OF HEAVENS. 



337 



residence of the righteous, exclaimed, in language 
beaming with the splendors of immortality, " For we 
know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were 
dissolved, we have a buildieg of God, a house not 
made with hands, eternal in the heavens;" and we 
therefore demonstrably prove, and triumphantly pro- 
claim, that the heaven of heavens is the glorious home 
of all the people of God, as clearly revealed in the 
Bible, the great standard of Christian theology. 

II. The ground on which we shall be admitted 
into Heaven's bright and blest abode. 

1. The boundless benevolence of God is the foundation of 
the eternal glorification of all the saints. This can be 
logically argued from the infinite nature of his perfec- 
tions. That "God is love," is the uniform testimony 
of all the sacred writers ; and might be responded by 
all beings in heaven, earth, and hell; for all were 
formed under the influence of boundless love, and be- 
nevolence must be in accordance with all Jehovah's 
proceedings toward- them. Those innumerable hosts 
that surround the throne and pay adoration to him 
who sitteth thereon, could testify in strains of heavenly 
rapture that love is the source of all their' enjoyments. 
Every existence that came from the forming hand of 
Jehovah, was placed in circumstances of substantial 
felicity. The whole animal ' and intellectual creation 
prove that God is love, and from him cometh every 
good and perfect gift. His infinite goodness bade the 
morning stars sing together, and all the sons of God 
22 



338 



THE HEAVEN OF HEAVENS. 



shout for joy over this new-born creation, and waked 
the sleeping clay of our first father, and breathed into 
his nostrils the breath of life, and made him capable 
of knowing, loving, and enjoying the smiles of his 
Maker forever. The beautiful paradise in which he 
was placed, was another proof of (rod's love to man. 
In its rural retreats jessamine and woodbine interwove 
their chaplets, and the rose of Sharon flourished in its 
gorgeous beauty, and the lily of the valley in snow- 
white purity spread its sweetest perfumes on the softest 
breezes of seolian winds, to add a delightful charm to 
the paradise of those who were linked in the conjugal 
chain of love's purest prospects and earthly delights, 
in union with the great Original of all blessedness, that 
lavished upon them paradisiacal favors that could only 
be surpassed by heaven itself, if they had been trans- 
planted from their unfallen felicity to more transcen- 
dent blessings, directly from God himself, that would 
crown the climax of all earthly enjoyments. And 
while the happy pair were exulting in the further ful- 
filment of Divine promises, and the present transfusions 
of immortal love, Jehovah anointed our great progeni- 
tor on the altar of innocence, and proclaimed him lord 
over this lower creation. And when he fell from his 
moral steadfastness, and involved himself and all man- 
kind in the ruins of a fallen nature, and exposed them 
to everlasting wretchedness, then that same love that 
was so gloriously conspicuous in other respects, was 
the only ground on which fallen man could ever be 
admitted into the heaven of heavens ; and therefore 



THE HEAVEN OF HEAVENS. • 339 



boundless benevolence became the sure foundation on 
which to build all that would be in accordance with 
salvation on earth and eternal glory in heaven. 

2. The atonement of Christ is another ground of endless 
blessedness in heaven. The atonement, as a wondrous 
work of the infinite God, sprang from boundless love, 
" For God so loved the world that he gave his only be- 
gotten Son, that whosoever belie veth in him should 
not perish, but have everlasting life." t Through this 
atoning medium, infinite wisdom and goodness operated 
in preparing fallen, sinful, helpless mortals, for endless 
glory in heaven's bright and everlasting realm. And 
notwithstanding the boundless nature of infinite love, 
none could enter into glory at God's right hand only 
through the soul-saving merits of the atonement, ap- 
plied by the eternal Spirit in preparing them for end- 
less enjoyment in the celestial city of the great King 
of Zion. We then hail it as a- "faithful saying, and 
worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into 
the world to save sinners." "For God sent not his 
Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the 
world through him might be saved." The whole world 
had fallen from the image and approbation of God ; 
their transgressions called for the thunders of inexora- 
ble justice, and the everlasting sweep of Divine indig- 
nation. But to this whole world, in awful rebellion 
against its rightful Sovereign, the Son was given. 
Our Kedeenier came from " Edom, with dyed garments 
from Bozrah," until the dreadful battle was fought, 
the sufficient amount of justice satisfied, and the hu- 



340 



THE HEAVEN OF HEAVENS. 



manity, upheld by eternal Divinity, bowed its bead 
and gave up the ghost. Then eternal goodness, in the 
atonement, loudly resounded from the hill of Calvary, 
saying in the language of Jehovah : " Look unto me, 
and be ye saved all the ends of the earth, for I am 
God, and there is none else." And Christ declares : 
" I am the way, the truth, and the life : no man cometh 
to the Father, but by me." They who live under the 
sound of the gospel, and refuse salvation through the 
atonement, cannot, according to the plan of salvation, 
be admitted into heaven ; but they who love and serve 
God the Father, through Christ Jesus the Son, shall 
have an abundant entrance into the everlasting king- 
dom, where not a wave of trouble shall ever roll on 
the boundless ocean of eternity to infract the blessed- 
ness of glorified saints redeemed by the blood of Jesus. 

3. Experimental religion is another ground of eternal 
glorification in heaven. For though God is boundless 
in goodness, and Christ has died to save sinners, yet 
without the efficacy of the atonement applied by the 
Holy Spirit in pardon and purification, we could not 
be prepared for the happiness of heaven, where nothing 
unholy can ever enter. On this principle, Christ say- 
eth : " Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see 
God." And Paul sayeth : " Blessed be the God and 
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us 
with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in 
Christ : according as he hath chosen us in him before 
the foundation of the world, that we should be holy 
and without blame before him in love." And relative 



THE HEAVEN" OF HEAVENS. 



341 



to the entire fulness of experimental salvation that 
prepares for eternal glory in heaven, he saith : " For 
this cause I boiv rny knees unto the Father of our 
Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven 
and earth is named, that he would grant you, accord- 
ing to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with 
might by his Spirit in the inner man ; that Christ 
may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being 
rooted and grounded in love, may be able to compre- 
hend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, 
and depth, and height ; and to know the love of Christ 
which passeth knowledge, that ye might be rilled with 
all the fulness of God." Now these and other passages 
of sacred Scripture, prove the reality and necessity of 
experimental godliness, or inward holiness, as an es- 
sential qualification for life everlasting in heaven. 

4. The promise of God to reward his people in heaven, 
is another ground of their eternal exaltation to that bright 
realm. Jehovah says to every true believer in Christ 
Jesus : " Be thou faithful until death, and I will give 
thee a crown of life." Paul calls it a "crown of 
righteousness," which the Lord, the righteous Judge, 
will give to all who love the appearance of Christ. 
For the promise is to us and to our children, and to 
all that are afar off, who are chosen through sanctifica- 
tion of the Spirit, and belief of the truth. These are 
" sealed with that holy spirit of promise, which is the 
earnest of our inheritance, until the redemption of the 
purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory." 
And we may now rejoice with exceeding joy, that all 



342 THE HEAVEN OF HEAVENS. 

the promises of God in Christ Jesus are, " yea, and in 
him, Amen." In God's own time, the glorious tidings 
shall sound in the ears of all his saints : " Behold, the 
Bridegroom cometh, go ye out to meet him." Then 
the whole church, in white-robed triumph, shall be en- 
throned in the highest heaven of heavens, where jubi- 
lees of welcome shall ring through all the heavenly 
society, and triumphant shouts of immortal joy shall 
fill the everlasting regions. 

III. The complete happiness of the eteknal 

KINGDOM OF HEAVENLY GLOBY. 

1. God's approbation of the whole heavenly society 
will constitute ineffable delight. And notwithstanding 
all the various degrees of glory on which we can 
possibly expatiate, all will be outri vailed by the pres- 
ence and approbation of Jehovah himself. His smiles 
will transfuse immortal blessedness and unspeakable 
rapture through all the ranks and files of angels, and 
thrones, and dominions, and principalities, and powers, 
inspiring new joys, and further anticipations of happi- 
ness far beyond all past and present expectations, 
according to the real nature of the human soul that 
is capable of endless enlargement, by the indwelling 
fulness of the infinite spirit, and the constant exercise 
of the immortal powers, in adoring, loving, and prais- 
ing him, who is boundless in all his perfections, and 
the unfailing fountain from whence streams of im- 
mortal delight will flow eternally onward, to trans- 
port all unfallen intelligences in his vast realm, that 



THE HEAVEN OF HEAVENS. 



343 



unceasingly approximate toward the unoriginated 

source of indescribable Godhead, that unites in one 
bond of inseparable union all the inhabitants of heaven, 
as the great centre of immediate communication for 
those that encircle his throne in their highest state 
of heavenly exaltation, as part of the great family of 
holy intelligences within the grand circumference of 
created nature that crown Jehovah Lord of "all. He 
is the great Original to whom all perfection can be 
traced, and the unbounded source from whence all 
true happiness is derived. Elizabeth Rowe, in her 
rapturous flights after spiritual enjoyments, in commun- 
ing with infinite Deity says : u I love my friends ; my 
vital breath and the light of heaven are dear to me ; 
but should I say I love my God as I love these, I 
should belie the sacred flame which aspires to infin- 
ity. 7 Tis thee,, abstractly thee, O uncreated Beauty, 
that I love ; in thee my wishes all terminate ; in thee, 
as in their blissful centre, all my desires meet, and 
there they must be eternally fixed : it is thou alone 
that must constitute my everlasting happiness. 
Were the harps of angels silent, there would be 
harmony for me in the whispers of thy love : were the 
fields of light darkened, thy smiles would bless me 
with everlasting day ; the visions of thy face will 
attract my eyes, nor give me leisure to waste a look 
on other objects to all eternity, any further than God 
is to be seen in his creatures. All their beams of 
grace, and joy, and glory, are derived from thee, the 
Eternal Sun, and will merit my attention no further 



344: 



THE HEAVEN OF HEAVENS, 



than they reflect thy image, or discover thy excel- 
lences. Even at this distance, encompassed with the 
shades of death, and the mists of darkness ; in these 
cold, melancholy' regions, when a ray of thy love 
breaks in on my soul, when through the clouds I can 
trace but one feeble beam, even that obscures all 
human glory, and gives me a contempt for whatever 
mortality can boast. What wonders then will the 
open vision of thy face effect, when I shall enjoy it 
in so sublime a degree, that the magnificence of the 
skies will not draw my regard, nor the converse of 
angels divert my thoughts from thee ? Thou wilt 
engross my everlasting attention ; and I should abound 
in felicity, if I had nothing to entertain me but 
immediate communion with the infinite Divinity. O 
blessed eternity ! with what cheerful splendor dost 
thou dawn on my soul. With thee come liberty, and 
peace, and love, and endless felicity ; but pain, and 
sorrow, and tumult, and death, and darkness vanish 
before thee forever. I am just upon the shores of 
those happy realms where uninterrupted day and 
eternal spring reside : yonder are the delectable hills 
and harmonious vales which continually echo to the 
songs of angels. There the blissful fields extend their 
verdure, and there the immortal groves ascend. But 
how dazzling is thy prospect O city of God. My 
eyes shall there behold the King in his beauty ; and 
O ! how ravishing will the aspects of his love be. 
What unutterable ecstacies shall I feel when I meet 
those smiles which enlighten heaven, and exhilarate 



THE HEAVEN" OF HEAVENS. 



345 



all the celestial regions ; where I shall view the beati- 
fic glory without one interposing cloud" to eternity." 
Here we have the happiness of heaven painted in 
sublime and glowing colors, and an indescribable 
stress laid on the smiles and approbation of God in 
the experience and perpetuation of heavenly felicity. 

2. The spotless purity of all the immortal hosts will 
be another cause of unending blessedness. Sin has 
been the source of all the misery in God's .dominions, 
but sin will never enter the blissful regions of the 
celestial paradise, and therefore unmixed happi- 
ness must be the result of perfect holiness and inti- 
mate fellowship with God, where the existence and 
circumstances of sin shall be eternally excluded. 
There wondrous displays of infinite goodness will 
transport the glorified millions of saints to an extent 
that I have no sufficient language to express, or capac- 
ity to fully understand. All the glittering attendants 
of the empyrean courts shall take a rejoicing interest 
in our eternal welfare, and join in our songs of purest 
praise to the supreme God of everlasting excellence, 
where the voice of unmingled harmony shall roll in 
melodious strains of creating and redeeming love in 
all their endless rounds of immaculate purity, unspeak- 
able delights, and immortal joy inspired by the great 
Original of all perfection, through whose boundless 
goodness we can call the treasures of eternity our 
own. But here the orchestras of heaven might, for 
a moment, stop their harps, and lutes, and lyres of 
inexpressible rapture, and with a seraphic pause con- 



346 THE HEAVEN OF HEAVENS. 

fess the subject of heavenly happiness too great for 
their most exalted strains, while they are musically 
rolling along the delightful anthems of ineffable bless- 
edness arising from the spotless purity of white-robed 
saints, washed white in the blood of the atoning sacri- 
fice, and prepared by the power of the Holy Spirit 
for eternal happiness in the heaven of heavens. 

3. But another ground of happiness will be the con- 
sciousness of eternal safety from sin, sorrow, death, and 
hell. Even in heaven the possibility or fear of 
falling from our eternal steadfastness would mar our 
peace, and to some extent make that glorious world 
like a state of probation rather than an unchange- 
able state of felicity resting on the immutability of 
God, the nature of our glorified existence, and the 
rewards of probationary faithfulness on earth, that, ac- 
cording to the Divin.e arrangement, lead to an eternal 
weight of glory in heaven. We may now rejoice in 
transports of joy, that when our probation is finished 
in righteousness on earth, we shall have an inheritance 
that is "incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth 
not away, reserved in heaven" for us, where with all 
the immortal hosts we shall go down the range of 
everlasting ages in operation with all the immutable 
counsels of eternal Godhead that will constitute our 
being and happiness endlessly complete, in inseparable 
union with himself, where there is "fulness of joy," 
and "pleasures for evermore." 

4. There will be transporting employments to aug- 
ment our happiness, that shall be commensurate with 



THE HEAVEN OF HEAVEN'S. 347 



our glorified spirits. For though heaven is denom- 
inated a place of rest, it is not a place of inac- 
tion ; that would be inconsistent with the nature of 
glorified spiritual beings, which must, according to 
the^philosophy of their existence, be endlessly active. 
There all their immortal powers shall have full exer- 
cise in obeying, loving, and praising Gk>d, and in 
contemplating his ways and works of creation, redemp- 
tion, and salvation, in which there will be an endless 
variety to attract their attention, and occupy their 
minds to the fullest extent along the range of endless 
ages, while new dispensations of indescribable glory 
will open in endless perspective on the astonished 
vision, while worlds on worlds may be rolling from 
the creative hand of the omnipotent Grod. For if he 
were to exert his eternal energy in creating systems, 
and suns, and worlds, through every moment of the 
admeasurement of successive duration, there would 
yet be room for the further exercise of creative power, 
and new fields for expatiation could be opened in 
everlasting variety to engage the most enlarged minds 
of all created intelligences, and unspeakable delight 
would be constantly enjoyed in their onward course 
to further blessedness ; and then there would still be 
sufficient room left in boundless space for the further 
exercise of Omnipotence in producing sources of hap- 
piness to all unfallen intelligences that in ceaseless 
adoration would praise him as the high and lofty one 
of eternity, whose name is Holy, and that dwells in 



348 THE HEAVEN OF HEAVENS. 



the high and holy place in the heaven of heavens. 
He is the great altitude of all perfection, after which 
heavenlyjspirits will grow np in endless progression, 
according to the various employments in which they 
shall be eternally engaged in the enlargement of their 
capacities, and in strengthening their intellectual 
powers, to accomplish Jehovah's requirements to a 
still further extent. 

5. God himself will be the all and all in heavenly 
enjoyment. For though there will be many instru- 
mental sources from whence pure enjoyments will 
be derived, he alone will be the unoriginated and 
unbounded source from whence all the streams of 
heavenly happiness shall flow. For if the ''harps of 
angels were silent, there would be harmony in the 
whispers of his love." If the whole landscape of 
created nature was darkened, the splendors of his God- 
head would emanate ineffable light and unclouded 
brilliancy beyond all description. Could universal 
ruin spread its devastating influence over all the mag- 
nificence of created worlds, and darkness drive its 
ebon car around the whole circumference, God would 
still be the same centre and circumference of all bless- 
edness, and in him the happiness of saints would be 
completely and eternally established ; for in the un- 
failing fulness of his eternal Divinity, he must incon- 
trovertibly be the unbounded source of all heavenly 
enjoyment. Here a large field for farther explanation 
would now open before us in astonishing grandeur, 



THE HEAVEN OF HEAVENS. 



349 



but we must necessarily leave a great part of the 
heavenly story untold, until eternity shall shed its 
bright radiance on our glorified vision, and unfold 
heavenly things according to their God-originated real- 
ity. We therefore crown the grand climax of all 
heavenly glory and happiness with God himself, who 
blazes from the highest pinnacle of all fame, and sheds 
the undiminished coruscations of transcendent splendor 
over all unfallen worlds, and combines the whole in 
one unchangeable administration, as revolving around 
the heaven of heavens as the grand centre of his do- 
minions, where saints shall be everlastingly happy in 
the transfusions of unbounded love beyond all human 
description. 

Now, Christians, look up and take with me a 
glorious view of our heavenly inheritance ; and then 
triumphantly ask, "what is there here to court our 
stay, to call us back from home, while angels beckon 
us away, and Jesus bids us come?" Angels are now 
holding out crowns of glory, and saints are waiting to 
receive our ascending spirits, .and Jesus Christ the 
mediator of the new covenant, and God the great 
Father of all, are waiting to hail us on the banks of 
eternal deliverance ; there, the wintry storms of human 
life shall all be past, and not a wave of trouble roll 
across the saints' everlasting inheritance, where they 
receive their great reward from God himself in the 
heaven of heavens. See, see! how grand and re- 
sistless the splendid orb of our eternal glorification 



350 THE HEAVEN OF HEAVEN'S. 



rolls on its triumphant course, its pathway decked 
with stars; beneath its revolutionary rounds, time's 
brightest glories shall expire, and around its circum- 
ference the sunbeams of eternity shall shine. Amen 
and amen. 



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